Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative

Who we are

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an international, not-for-profit research and development (R&D) organization that develops and delivers new treatments for neglected diseases affecting millions of the world’s poorest people.

Together with more than 200 public research and industry allies worldwide, we use the power of partnership, innovation, open science, and advocacy to find solutions to a great injustice: the lack of medicines for life-threatening diseases that disproportionately impact poor and marginalized people. Driven by collaboration, not competition, and by patients’ needs, not profits, we promote equitable access, foster inclusive and sustainable solutions, and advocate for a more effective global biomedical R&D system that meets the needs of neglected patients.

13 new treatments for people with Sleeping Sickness, Visceral Leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, HIV, Hepatitis C, and Malaria that have saved millions of lives. We aim to deliver a total of 25 new treatments by 2028 – addressing R&D gaps for neglected tropical diseases and viral infections, including new pandemic-prone diseases (such as COVID-19) and climate-sensitive diseases (such as Dengue) with a focus on the needs of patients in low- and middle-income countries.

With more than 240 employees of 30+ nationalities located in nine offices on four continents, DNDi is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential parts of our culture and key drivers of our success. We encourage candidates of diverse profiles and backgrounds to apply

Our culture and values

Our Vision

To save lives and improve the health of people living with neglected diseases by using an alternative model to develop drugs for these diseases, and by ensuring equitable access to treatment.

In this not-for-profit model, driven by the public sector, a variety of players collaborate to raise awareness of the need to research and develop drugs for those neglected diseases that fall outside the scope of market-driven research and development (R&D). They also build public responsibility and leadership in addressing the needs of these patients.

Our Mission

To develop new treatments for people living with neglected diseases. Acting in the public interest, DNDi bridges existing R&D gaps in essential drugs for these diseases by initiating and coordinating drug R&D projects in collaboration with the international research community, the public sector, the pharmaceutical industry, and other relevant partners.

DNDi’s primary focus has been the development of drugs for the most neglected diseases, such as human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, or sleeping sickness), visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar), and Chagas disease, while considering engagement in R&D projects for other neglected patients (e.g. malaria, paediatric HIV, filarial infections) and development of diagnostics and/or vaccines to address unmet needs that others are unable or unwilling to address.

In pursuing these goals, DNDi enables R&D networks built on global collaborations. While harnessing existing support capacities in countries where the diseases are endemic, DNDi contributes to strengthening capacities in a sustainable manner, including through know-how and technology transfers in the field of drug R&D for neglected diseases.

In order to address the evolving needs of public health importance and maintain DNDi’s commitment to delivering on the objectives of the current portfolio of diseases, a dynamic portfolio approach is adopted. This enables DNDi to take on new disease areas with various operating models, while completing objectives in current diseases.

Our Values

• People-centred
• Integrity
• Innovation
• Courage

​You can find more here (https://dndi.org/about/who-we-are/)

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

As a global non-profit R&D and treatment advocacy organization with offices in nine countries and partners in nearly 50 countries, we naturally seek talent from a variety of areas of expertise and settings. We recognize that a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace culture are critical to the success of our mission and programmes. Our teams comprise an exceptional mix of expertise, and we embrace our cultural, ethnic, gender, professional, and other differences. Our workplace culture is also rich because it cuts across the worlds of science and advocacy, yet neither science nor advocacy alone defines us. 

The first among our values is to be people-centred. We are committed to creating a work environment that values human dignity and equity; we strive to drive innovation, performance, and productivity by empowering our diverse workforce to use their unique skills, ideas, perspectives, and qualities every day; and we support staff in realizing their full potential by removing employment-related disadvantages and barriers to participation, including through flexible working arrangements. We do not tolerate any act of discrimination, which we see as a barrier to equal opportunity, inclusion, human rights, and organizational effectiveness.

Our Board of Directors and Global Executive Team are sponsors of gender equality and geographic diversity at DNDi, and they encourage inclusion in all its forms. With diverse representation on our Board of Directors (13 nationalities from 6 continents and 47% female leadership), we are working towards greater gender diversity by ensuring that the candidate pool for each new board appointment includes both male and female candidates, and we use open advertising to broaden the search for a diversity of candidates. Our Global Executive Team, with 18 nationalities from 5 continents*, guides the development and oversight of DNDi’s Integrated People Strategy (Español, Français, Português) in partnership with our Human Resources team.

You can find more here (https://dndi.org/work-with-us/diversity-equity-inclusion/)