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Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson): In November 2015, Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health (GPH) and Janssen R&D Discovery Sciences established a collaboration with the CDIPD to discover new treatments for Chagas disease. The integrated collaboration leverages the complementary expertise of each organization. Janssen-sponsored postdoctoral candidates at UC San Diego work to identify novel drug targets, while Janssen scientists lead the discovery of small molecules that may be optimized to become new therapeutics.
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Sanofi: With support from the NIH NCATS program, CDIPD is evaluating a Sanofi clinical candidate as a potential drug against Trypanosoma cruzi.
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Calibr: Diane Thomas of CDIPD is advising Calibr personnel in the care and maintenance of models of filarid parasite infection.
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Structural Genomics Consortium: With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Structural Genomics Consortium of Toronto has been collaborating with CDIPD to analyze a number of compound libraries against the filarid parasite, Brugia, and to validate hits against Cryptosporidium. These compound libraries are predominantly inhibitors of known molecular targets, providing the foundation for a structure-based drug design approach.
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: CDIPD personnel are collaborating with Dr. Derek Tam to evaluate a library of synthetic compounds against Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite responsible for Chagas Disease. Currently this collaboration is transitioning from in vitro screens to animal models of infection.
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BioVentures in Global Health (BVGH) is committed to helping biopharmaceutical companies find ways to participate in global health. They have helped CDIPD access valuable compound resources from industry for screening against parasites responsible for neglected tropical diseases.
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AstraZeneca has agreed to provide CDIPD with a library of cysteine protease inhibitors to screen against parasite targets.
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MetronomX and CDIPD are collaborating with the CDC and the Department of Cardiology at UCLA to gain approval for a new formulation of Nifurtimox in the United States.
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Acea Biosciences and CDIPD are collaborating on development of Corifungin as a new drug to treat Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis cause by Naegleria fowleri and visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania spp. CDIPD successfully petitioned for Orphan Drug Status for Corifungin with the FDA.
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The Genomic Institute of the Novartis Foundation (GNF) uses their expertise in chemistry, biology, automation, and information sciences to study new biological processes and understand the underlying mechanisms involved in human disease. These discoveries are being translated into human therapeutics through an internal pre-clinical drug discovery effort, which includes a large infectious disease program. GNF and CDIPD have developed collaborations in schistosomiasis and Chagas disease focused on discovering new leads for joint development as therapeutics.
