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EISAI CO-ESTABLISHES THE GLOBAL HEALTH INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FUNDAIMS TO ADVANCE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HEALTH TECH FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) has co-established the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) to advance the research and development of new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics from Japan to fight infectious diseases in emerging countries and the developing world.

The GHIT Fund is the first public-private partnership in Japan dedicated to the field of global health. It is a partnership between Eisai and four other Japanese pharmaceutical companies, the Government of Japan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The GHIT Fund will facilitate global partnerships between Japanese and non-Japanese research and development organizations and fund promising research programs in order to realize advances in new health technologies by Japanese pharmaceutical companies, universities and research institutions possessing strengths in drug creation, with the aim of utilizing those technologies effectively in emerging countries and the developing world.

Eisai is committed to contributing to the improvement of public healthcare for peoples in emerging countries and the developing world and the expansion of economic development, the middle class and other factors that may benefit those regions. The company considers this commitment as a long-term investment in its future in an increasingly globalized era and as such consistently engages in initiatives focused on overcoming issues related to access to medicines in order to effectively combat infectious diseases, including neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Eisai expects the establishment of the GHIT Fund to lead to further global public-private partnerships focused on the development of new drugs and contribute to global health through advances made in new health technologies in Japan.

Eisai is also a signatory to the London Declaration, which is the largest global public-private partnership to date and aims to eliminate ten NTDs by 2020. As part of its commitment under the declaration, Eisai has agreed to produce at its Vizag Plant in India 2.2 billion tablets of the lymphatic filariasis medicine diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and supply them to the World Health Organization (WHO) at price zero. Furthermore, the company is moving ahead with new drug development projects targeting malaria and NTDs such as Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, based on partnerships with international non-profit organizations such as the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi ) and Sabin Vaccine Institute as well as Brazil's national research agency, the FundaÇão Oswaldo Cruz.

The company remains actively committed to continuing the above and other initiatives to ensure access to medicines in emerging countries and the developing world in order to better contribute to increasing the benefits provided to patients and their families in those regions.

[ Please refer to the following notes for further information on the GHIT Fund, neglected tropical
diseases, and Eisai's commitment to improving global access to medicines. ]

For media inquiries regarding this release:
Public Relations Department, Eisai Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81-(0)3-3817-5120

For media inquiries regarding the GHIT Fund:
Global Health Innovative Technology Fund
PR office (COSMO PR), contact person: Maruan El Mahgiub
Tel: +81-(0)3-5561-2915 / Fax: +81-(0)3-5561-2912 / Email: press@ghitfund.org

< Notes to editors >

1.   About the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund)
The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) is an international non-profit organization aimed to advance the research and development (R&D) of new health technologies from Japan to fight infectious diseases prevalent specifically in the developing world, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Established as a public-private partnership between the Government of Japan, a consortium of pharmaceutical companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the GHIT Fund facilitates and funds the R&D of new health technologies through partnership creation and grant-making activities. To learn more about the GHIT Fund, please see www.ghitfund.org.


2.   About Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NTDs* blight the lives of more than 1 billion of the world's poorest 2.7 billion people. There are 149 countries and territories where NTDs are endemic, at least 100 of which are endemic for 2 or more of these diseases, and 30 countries that are endemic for 6 or more. These diseases not only survive and spread in conditions of poverty; they also anchor large populations in poverty.

* NTDs designated by the WHO for control or elimination: Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), cysticercosis / taeniasis, dengue / severe dengue, dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), echinococcosis, fascioliasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, rabies, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trachoma, and yaws



3.   About Eisai's Commitment to Improving Global Access to Medicines
Today, it is estimated that some 2.7 billion people around the world live on US$2 or less per day. Most of these 2.7 billion people do not have access to essential healthcare and treatment despite the availability of effective medicines. This is an international challenge that needs to be solved through collaborations among governments, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), non-governmental organizations, and pharmaceutical companies. In line with its human health care (hhc) mission, Eisai is committed to improving global access to medicines over the medium-to-long term through partnership strategies that involve working with governments, international organizations, private entities, and non-profit organizations. As part of these efforts, the company has agreed to provide the medicine diethylcarbamazine (DEC) free of charge to the WHO in support of its program to eliminate the NTD lymphatic filariasis, and is also engaged in a research collaboration with an international non-profit foundation to develop the new drug E1224 (a prodrug of ravuconazole) for the treatment of Chagas disease. For further information on Eisai’s Access to Medicines initiatives, please visit the Access to Medicines page on the Eisai global website: https://www.eisai.com/company/atm/index.html.

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