The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), the first public-private partnership of its kind in Japan, today announced its official launch. The GHIT Fund has been established to advance the research and development of new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics to fight infectious diseases in the developing world.

The GHIT Fund aims to reinforce Japan’s contribution to global health by developing new health technologies, utilizing the highly developed science and technology capacity found at the country’s pharmaceutical companies, universities and research institutions. In providing grants for promising research, the Fund will help bridge the gap between basic research and clinical studies, allowing for unprecedented medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics.

It is estimated that over 1 billion of the world’s poorest of the poor suffer from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)1. To eliminate these diseases, highly effective/low-cost medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics are much needed. The GHIT Fund will facilitate and fund global R&D partnerships that aim to discover and develop new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics that can help realize the elimination of these diseases in the developing world.

The GHIT Fund was established as a public-private partnership between the Government of Japan, a consortium of Japanese pharmaceutical companies (in alphabetical order: Astellas Pharma Inc.; Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd.; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation2. The GHIT Fund will proactively seek out further investment partners to advance new health technologies for the developing world, and the betterment of healthcare globally.