Genzyme starts humanitarian program to develop treatments for 'neglected' diseases

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., April 10 - Genzyme Corp. has established the Humanitarian Assistance for Neglected Diseases initiative, a program to participate in efforts to discover and advance novel treatments for neglected diseases affecting the developing world.

Genzyme said it will focus on projects where it can play a role in the process of moving potential new treatments from discovery toward clinical testing and seek a cure for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and other diseases.

The company will not seek to profit from the commercialization of any products it helps to develop. It will grant all commercial and intellectual property rights in neglected disease areas to non-profit partners, according to a news release.

The initiative complements existing Genzyme programs that provide free medicines and help to build sustainable health care systems in developing countries, the release said.

Genzyme has begun one of its first projects with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, a not-for-profit drug-development organization.

This partnership will work to develop and test compounds intended to treat African trypanosomiasis, more commonly known as sleeping sickness, a fatal infectious disease that has grown to epidemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Genzyme is a global biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.

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