GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocruz agree tropical disease partnership

GlaxoSmithKline has expanded its partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) via a new joint project in the field of tropical disease prevention.

The new collaboration will see the two companies working together to research vaccines for conditions such as Chagas and Leishmanias, as well as malaria and tuberculosis.

Scientists from Fiocruz and GlaxoSmithKline will work together and openly share research data and expertise in order to develop treatments for the conditions, which represent major areas of unmet medical need.

Dr Nick Cammack, senior vice-president and head of GlaxoSmithKline's Tres Cantos Medicines Development Campus in Spain, said Fiocruz's expertise will be instrumental in its drug discovery efforts.

He added: "At GlaxoSmithKline, we are committed to collaborating in the search for new treatments for many of the diseases that affect millions of people in some of the world's least well-off nations."

This comes after the company announced a collaboration with Amicus Therapeutics earlier this month in order to create a new treatment for Fabry disease.