September 22, 2009

Chao Center donates medications to combat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

The Chao Center, which is based in the Purdue Research Park, produces and manufactures drugs in smaller quantities that can't be produced in a cost-effective way by larger pharmaceutical companies. Eli Lilly and Company partnered with the center in 2007 to continue to produce and distribute the multidrug-resistant medication Seromycin®. The partnership is part of a $135 million effort by Lilly to combat tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis around the world.

The medication, which has a market value of about $360,000, will be provided to the Global Health Committee, which will then distribute it to patients in need overseas.

"There is a great need for medications around the world. Right now there are about 6,000 people a year with multidrug-resistant TB in Ethiopia and many more worldwide who have no access to drugs," said Dr. Anne Goldfeld, associate professor of medicine for the Harvard Medical School and co-founder of the Global Health Committee. "Through a donation from Eli Lilly and Company in 2008, we received MDR-TB medications that we are distributing in Ethiopia in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, and with the donation from the Chao Center we will be able to expand our efforts to reach many more patients in Ethiopia and other countries."

Highly contagious, difficult to treat and a growing threat to global public health, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis strikes about 450,000 people each year, with the highest rates of prevalence in China, India, South Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The World Health Organization estimates that the average multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patient infects up to 20 other people in his or her lifetime, and cases have been found in nearly every country surveyed by the organization. When drugs used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are misused or mismanaged, the even more virulent, extreme drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis can develop.

The donated medications were produced by Lilly and transferred to the Chao Center for distribution in 2007 when the center became the sole North American provider of Seromycin®. The Chao Center is now manufacturing Seromycin®. The center, which is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, was created through a gift by Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences alumni Allen Chao, Ph.D., and his wife, Lee Hwa-Chao.

"It is part of our mission and part of our partnership with Lilly to be involved in humanitarian efforts such as the Global Health Committee, and we know that the medications will be used to help people who are the most vulnerable and in great need of health-care assistance," said Joseph B. Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation. "This also is an opportunity for the Chao Center and its pharmaceutical interns to be directly involved with a program that will assist in global health care."

About the Global Health Committee

The Global Health Committee, also known as the Cambodian Health Committee, has treated and cured thousands of tuberculosis patients and provides HIV/AIDS care for thousands more. At its core is the conviction that access to treatment for infectious disease is a basic human right, and all people deserve a chance to lead healthy lives, regardless of where they live or their economic situation. The committee has pioneered delivery models of care for TB and AIDS that reach the poorest adults and children, including for MDR-TB. Linked to that care is basic scientific discovery conducted at the Immune Disease Institute, a Harvard Medical School affiliate aimed at discovering new approaches to improve the ability to treat TB and AIDS in the future. The committee's clinical TB and AIDS programs involve outreach, training, intensive patient and family support, microcredit and poverty reduction, and the creation of centers of excellence for TB and AIDS care.

About The Chao Center

The Chao Center for Industrial Pharmacy & Contract Manufacturing opened in 2005 at the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette. Initiated through a donation to the Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from alumni Allen Chao, Ph.D., and his wife, Lee Hwa-Chao, the university-affiliated center is designed to provide a means to educate students in Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), provide pharmaceutical services to the pharmaceutical industry and provide an environment for Purdue faculty to conduct research in a cGMP facility.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Lilly provides answers - through medicines and information - for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at https://www.lilly.com

To the Purdue Research Park, https://www.purdueresearchpark.com

Purdue Research Foundation marketing and communication contact: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 588-3340, casequin@prf.org

Sources:
Joseph B. Hornett, (765) 588-1039, jbhornett@prf.org

Craig Davis, executive director of the Chao Center, daviscw@thechaocenter.com