Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation

At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, composed of Pedro Luis Alonso Fernández, Maite Arango García-Urtiaga, Eugenia Bieto Caubet, Francisco de Paula Bisbal Pons, Andrés Conde Solé, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil González, Pedro Duque Duque, Rodrigo García González, Charo Izquierdo Martínez, Íñigo Losada Rodríguez, Mònica Margarit Ribalta, Sophie Muller, Sami Naïr, Carmen Noguero Galilea, Juan Carlos del Olmo Castillejos, Ana Pastor Julián, Rafael Puyol Antolín, Isaac Querub Caro, Ignacio Villaverde Menéndez, chaired by Gustavo Suárez Pertierra and with Manuel Toharia Cortés acting as secretary, has unanimously decided to bestow the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

More than a billion people belonging to the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged populations –half of whom are children– suffer from a group of diseases that cause severe social stigma and millions of deaths each year. These are diseases neglected by research, industry and commercial development. In response to the problem, five public and private entities from Brazil, France, India, Kenya and Malaysia, together with two international organizations, launched this initiative to discover and develop effective treatments, as well as to make them accessible and affordable, in addition to adapting them to the affected communities.

In its twenty-year history, the initiative has developed numerous treatments for these serious diseases. Its strategy includes an ambitious plan to develop new drugs and treatments that will improve healthcare and save millions of lives worldwide.

Oviedo, 1st June 2023