Having received the 5th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation, Bernard Pécoul, director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), explains in this interview the challenges and progress in developing treatments for populations historically marginalized by pharmaceutical innovation. Pécoul details how the lack of commercial incentives hinders research on diseases such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and African sleep deprivation, and how collaboration between public institutions, non-governmental organizations, and research centers is enabling the development of more accessible and effective therapies. His reflections underscore the importance of placing global health and equity at the heart of the scientific agenda.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in the Development Cooperation category goes in this fifth edition to the Drugs for Neg
Having received the 5th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation, Bernard Pécoul, director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), explains in this interview the challenges and progress in developing treatments for populations historically marginalized by pharmaceutical innovation. Pécoul details how the lack of commercial incentives hinders research on diseases such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and African sleep deprivation, and how collaboration between public institutions, non-governmental organizations, and research centers is enabling the development of more accessible and effective therapies. His reflections underscore the importance of placing global health and equity at the heart of the scientific agenda.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in the Development Cooperation category goes in this fifth edition to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) for developing and delivering new, effective and affordable treatments for poverty related diseases including Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, malaria and leishmaniasis affecting the world’s most vulnerable populations.
00:34 What does DNDi’s work involve?
01:30 You work with neglected diseases, but also with others like malaria and HIV, which are not neglected, but are also linked to poverty. How do these diseases affect a country’s development?
02:33 Why do you say that the ideal and effective treatment should be short-term?
03:30 In 10 years, you have developed six new treatments for malaria, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and sleeping sickness. What are the next treatments you hope to develop?
