Novartis highlights success of tropical disease initiative

Novartis has expressed pride in the progress made in combating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as part of a major collaborative project launched last year.

The company has marked the one-year anniversary of the London Declaration on NTDs, an accord between the World Health Organization, government bodies in the US, UK and UAE, the World Bank, various non-governmental organisations and 14 pharmaceutical firms including Novartis.

Its aim is to eliminate or control ten specified NTDs by 2020, with Novartis' contributions including donations of therapies for leprosy in nations such as Cambodia and the Philippines, as well as efforts to combat the spread of malaria in Tanzania.

Joseph Jimenez, chief executive officer of Novartis, said: "No one company can solve these issues alone. We're proud to be working with so many dedicated partners to address the most pressing health problems in the developing world today."

This comes after the drugmaker highlighted positive data from a new clinical trial of Bexsero, a vaccine therapy for meningococcal disease group B, in a report issued last week.