Apidel announces R&D collaboration with DNDi in the field of neglected diseases

Apidel SA announces the signature of an agreement to collaborate with DNDi on the preclinical development of a topical treatment for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, a neglected disease affecting between 0.7 to 1.2 million people worldwide. Apidel is a Geneva based early-stage pharmaceutical company providing proprietary drug delivery solutions for development of safer and more efficient therapeutic products. ApidSOL enables superior skin penetration of poorly soluble drugs.

Currently, there is no efficient topical treatment available for cutaneous leishmaniasis. A safe, affordable topical treatment, which could be stored in harsh conditions and self-administered represents an urgent, unmet need.

DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative) is a patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development (R&D) organization that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases – notably leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, filarial diseases, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, and hepatitis C – with several new drug candidates in its R&D pipeline.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a poverty-associated disease occurring mostly in subtropical regions or in displaced populations. It is a skin infection prompted by a parasite, resulting in multiple ulcers on exposed body parts causing serious disability and leaving deep scars which may induce serious social prejudice.

(Press release)