Japan funds R&D for tropical medicines for poor countries

摘要

The Japanese pharma sector may have previously lagged behind its counterparts in Europe and North America in helping the very poorest people in the developing world, but the enthusiasm with which five of Japan's biggest pharmaceutical companies have embraced the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund indicates a sea change in policy. Set up in early 2013, the Tokyo-based fund is specifically designed to push Japanese firms' considerable technologies and expertise in developing innovations for a range of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and neglected tropical diseases.