Originally posted on September 21, 2009
Neglected Global Diseases Initiative – University of British Columbia (NGDI-UBC)
Informational Seminar, 9 September 2009, 4:30PM—6:00PM
Michael Smith Labs, Rm. 101
Meeting Minutes
4:30 PM: Introductory presentation of the proposed Neglected Global Diseases Initiative (NGDI-UBC) by Dr. Kishor Wasan—Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
4:50 PM: Meeting open to questions from audience
– What is your definition of drugs? Will this include vaccines and immunotherapy?
- Yes, but the Working Group’s (WG) role will be to focus on the philosophy and direct attention to our research strengths at the university.
– What about outside funding? Have you looked into one of the Gates’ grand challenge?
- There are 3,000 applications a year and it’s a very competitive process (2.8% success rate). We could potentially pitch an idea on vaccines or tuberculosis, but it’s a limited pool, prizes are about $100,000. We hope to attract a much larger sum of funds.
– What is the WHO list of neglected diseases?
- (http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/)
- Buruli Ulcer
- Chagas disease(American trypanosomiasis)
- Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever
- Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease)
- Fascioliasis
- Human African trypanosomiasis
- Leishmaniasis
- Leprosy
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciasis
- Schistosomiasis
- Soil transmitted helminthiasis
- Snakebite
- Trachoma
- Yaws
– Do we have the facilities to conduct this kind of research?
- It was mentioned by Professor F. Jean that a Level 3 lab called FINDER and contains animal facilities is being certified at LSC as we speak
– Are we thinking about out-licensing? How do we fit into the larger pipeline of drug development?
- We are thinking about the pre-clinical stages and if something can be done clinically we can look at future partnerships. Example: The Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development (CPDD) convinced Gates Foundation to underwrite and fund clinical trials to Phase 3 when they had a potential compound. Additionally, DNDi is focusing this year on producing clinical products to treat Chagas.
- The initiative’s mission statement focuses not just on R&D but also on delivery which will involve social policy researchers, and the University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO).
- UBC is also the first university in Canada to come up with official principles and practice for the benefit of NTDs and social issues which also goes beyond diseases like environment issues. We’re also working with other North American universities and thinking about moving outside traditional pharmaceutical partnerships with new foundations and organizations.
– We should not step on other university initiatives such as ones at the CDRD; is this initiative going to collaborate? Compete? Cooperate? Is it going to be inclusive, or exclusive?
- This is not intended to be a specific drug development project; it’s going to be a research umbrella. The CDRD was a major proponent of the NGDI and considering being an outlet for development with the initiative. This is a situation where in being united we can be a lot strong opposed to individuals. We’re looking for creating an appropriate umbrella that can become a massive magnet for attracting funding.
- There are a lot of activities going on but we’re not reinventing the wheel. What we are doing is putting a face to all the activities on campus, this is a way to make sure things work together to attract the big dollars we need. This is not a new initiative—we welcome interactions with other groups and use these relationships to build additional drugs. More work needs to be done, but this is just the beginning; today is an information session to learn about what is going on this campus and how to move forward as a group.
– Regarding your mission statement on the delivery of drugs, is the delivery of drugs delivered locally or anywhere?
- One of the key things is that we need people to break down the barriers on issues of delivery. It’s not just development; we’ve invited people from law, policy, and social science. If we don’t have these people involved you’re right it is just a development initiative.
– Many researchers in previous generations have tried similarly to get projects that focus on neglected populations, like rehydration therapy, but have failed. How is this initiative going to work with new and different ideas?
- A program like NGDI would strengthen projects usually on the fringe by putting the research community behind it. We intend to include scientists and scholars from different disciplines within the University community including social scientists, educators, economists, lawyers and medical/basic scientists.
Action Items
– Those interested in further work with the NGDI are encouraged to sign onto our mailing lists and direct additional questions to Dr. Kishor Wasan (kwasan@mail.ubc.ca)
– The new working group will convene to develop a strategic plan/governance plan/business plan and letter of intent, and explore funding opportunities
– Additional focus groups representing a variety of disciplines will be assembled to review and provide feedback to the working group on the development of the strategic plan.
– Further updates will be posted on the initiative’s website (http://www.ngdi.ubc.ca) and mailing list.
5:30 PM: Conclusion of session and break for refreshments.