Paromomycin Receives Orphan Drug Status by FDA and EMEA
OneWorld Health has received Orphan Drug Designation from the two leading regulatory agencies in the world, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), for paromomycin to treat visceral leishmaniasis (VL).

The U.S. Orphan Drug Act provides for formal protocol assistance when requested by the sponsors of drugs for rare diseases or conditions.  The EMEA regulations are similar, and have the added advantage of applying to all 25 members of the European Union.  Orphan Drug Designation also provides incentives such as exemption from certain registration fees, and may help pave the way for approvals in other countries. OneWorld Health will file for regulatory approval of paromomycin in India this year.  It will begin the drug approval process with the FDA and/or the EMEA next year.
Read the news release >

OneWorld Health Receives Two Nominations for Pharmaceutical Achievement
Victoria Hale and OneWorld Health were selected as finalists for the Emerging Executive of the Year Award and the Social Responsibility Award, respectively, in the Pharmaceutical Business Category for the 2005 Pharmaceutical Achievement Awards. All finalists were chosen by a distinguished Executive Review Board, composed of experts from both industry and academia. Winners will be announced Aug. 8 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sapling Foundation Awards Grant to OneWorld Health
A The Sapling Foundation of Woodside, Calif., renewed its support for OneWorld Health with a grant to further engage the pharmaceutical industry in global health partnerships to benefit developing countries.  This is the second such grant from the Foundation in support of fostering collaborations with executive and scientific talent from industry.
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Two Pharma Veterans Serve as Key Executive Advisors
David Brown, Ph.D. and Andrew Mascarenhas are using their extensive industry experience to assist OneWorld Health in consulting roles.

David Brown Ph.D., F.R.S.C., will be involved in OneWorld Health’s drug discovery programs, leading the effort to identify new, potential leads in diarrheal disease. Most recently, he was President and CEO of Cellzome AG. He was also Global Head of Drug Discovery with Hoffman-La Roche. Dr. Brown has extensive experience directing pharmaceutical R&D from early discovery through clinical trials, and has led research in all major disease areas.

Andrew A. Mascarenhas, a retired executive from Eli Lilly and Company, will establish OneWorld Health’s first office in India this year. He will also work with senior management at OneWorld Health to help evaluate potential partnerships with industry. He has more than 30 years of experience in international marketing and management, including direct country/region responsibility for Lilly’s operations in Puerto Rico, the West Indies, Central America, India, Italy and Japan.



OneWorld Health Hosts Booth at Bio 2005
The company will host a booth (number 564) at the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s annual international convention June 19-22 in Philadelphia. OneWorld Health will continue to heighten its visibility and connect with decision makers in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to help advance the product pipeline.

Visiting Scholar to Deliver Keynote at Institute for the Future
Helene Lipton, Ph.D., visiting scholar at the Institute for OneWorld Health, will deliver the keynote address at the Institute for the Future's Health Horizons Program Spring Conference, Wednesday, June 15 in Palo Alto. Dr. Lipton, a Professor of Health Policy in UCSF's Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Institute for Health Policy Studies, will use the Institute for OneWorld Health as a model to discuss the importance and relevance of global health issues and how creative business models can uncover value even in impoverished parts of the world.

The Health Horizons Program identifies and evaluates trends and discontinuities in the broad health industry landscape and forecasts the meaning for health-oriented companies over the next three to 10 years. More information about Institute for the Future can be found at this link.

CEO Receives 2005 Innovator of the Year, Woman of the Year Awards
Dr. Victoria Hale was named by the Professional Women Healthcare Alliance (PWHA) “Innovator of the Year” at a ceremony on May 19 in San Mateo, Calif. and will be honored as the 2005 Woman of the Year on June 28 in San Francisco, Calif. by the Women Health Care Executives (WHCE) of Northern California.

The WHCE and the PWHA represent women health care professionals from research institutes, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, medical providers, insurance groups and legal firms that promote leadership and career development, education and opportunity. For information on the WHCE event on June 28, please email Emily Avila or contact her at (415) 648-0544.

• The Economist,  Hale and Healthy, April 16, 2005.
  This week, scientists from the Institute for OneWorld Health, the first not-for-profit pharmaceutical company in America, presented the results of a large clinical trial at the Third World Congress on Leishmaniasis in Palermo, Italy.
  Read the article >
  
  
• BusinessWeek, UpFront Section, Face Time: Victoria Hale, “Nonprofit Drugs for the Poor,” May 9, 2005 (subscription required).
  Victoria Hale scours the globe for promising drugs that universities and drugmakers have discarded because they see little profit in developing them.
  Read the article >
  
  
• Reader’s Digest, America’s 100 Best, May 2005.
  Drug companies donate patents from compounds they aren’t using. Victoria Hale and the Institute for OneWorld Health, America’s first non-profit pharmaceutical company, use the compounds to develop drugs to treat diseases of poverty around the world.
  Read the article >
  
  
• O, The Oprah Magazine, Five Biggest Health Breakthroughs by Women Scientists, “Unprofitable but Desperately Needed Drugs,” May 2005 (subscription required).
  While working in biotechnology, Hale watched as the least profitable projects-usually drugs targeting diseases in developing countries — got shelved.
  Read the article >
  
  
• BBCmundo.com, Farméceuticas: ¿negocio o salud?, May 2, 2005, A question and answer session in Spanish with OneWorld Health employee Kimberly Barrio about drug development and the industry.
  Listen to the interview >
  
  

Elimination of Kala-azar from endemic countries in the South-East Asia Region
Geneva/New Delhi, (WHO) - The Health Ministers of three Member States of WHO’s South-East Asia Region, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding pledging to collaborate to eliminate Visceral Leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) from their countries.
Read the Press Release >




We’re growing and looking for talented industry professionals
See the OneWorld Health Employment page for descriptions of our staffing needs in our San Francisco office:


Chief Financial Officer
VP/Director of Clinical Development
VP/Director of Clinical Affairs
Director of Quality Assurance, Compliance
Associate Director/Director of Toxicology
Project Team Leader, Malaria Programs
Accounts Payable/Payroll
Controller
Administrative Assistant
Executive Assistant
Human Resources Administrative Assistant/Reception Support

From time to time, individuals from diverse backgrounds around the world offer comments that we would like to share with readers.
Here are some recent examples:

“I read an article several weeks ago in The Economist about the work that The Institute for OneWorld Health is doing, and I was impressed by both the originality of the business model and the importance of problems being addresses. After some discussion, my fraternity decided to donate the proceeds from our most recent spring philanthropy event to the Institute. We had a benefit concert at our house last weekend with eight local bands and two disc jockeys. ...We were very pleased with how the event went, and next year we plan on repeating it with a more organized approach to fundraising. We are proud to support such a great cause, and we wish the Institute all the best in its future endeavors.”

“I very much believe in your model. I've worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years (“big” pharma and biotech) and believe that we could be doing more in drug and biologics development that could help more of humanity.”

“In fact, I (am a health professional) come from a developing country So good luck to all organization which is involving in our developing country particularly in the most relevant public health concern (Malaria++, Schistosomiasis, and other disease [sic]).”

Your support enables us to grow, to seek new opportunities and to maintain our leadership as social entrepreneurs in global health. Some organizations may offer a matching gifts program which can double or even triple your donation to OneWorld Health. Talk to the human resources department at your company to find out if this is an option. Make a gift today.

We extend our thanks to the following organizations and individuals for their recent generous gifts:

Organizations, Foundations Gap Foundation Matching Gifts Program Marian Weinreb and Associates, Inc. Pre-Pharmacy Club, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, NU Charge Individuals D.W. Beisser Douglas Benoit Robert Douglas and Elizabeth Strode Cynthia Hale and Peter Brown Andrew Chu Dan Heath Heather Houlihan D. Todd Littlefield Maggie Morris Matthew and Andrea Morrison Tim Mulligan Esteban Piedrahita John Pugh Sandra Schlub Basil Stamos Mare Sullivan Stephanie Tam Wienke Tax William Trinkle Samantha Wilson Kenneth Witek Dana Woods