Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias award

MADRID (AP) — The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a nonprofit that undertakes research to find treatments for millions of marginalized patients worldwide, has won Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation. The Spanish foundation said the award was given to the organization for its collaborative efforts across international health care systems and the private sector to undertake lifesaving drug research that is largely unprofitable for major pharmaceutical companies. DNDi tackles diseases that proliferate and could otherwise remain untreated in the developing world, including Dengue fever, malaria, pediatric HIV, hepatitis C and cryptococcal meningitis. The medical research group has already saved millions of lives since its foundation in 2003, it says.