IRBM

Centre for rare, neglected and poverty related diseases

CENTRE FOR RARE, NEGLECTED AND POVERTY-RELATED DISEASES.

CNCCS has created a centre for translational research in the area of Rare, Neglected and Poverty-Related Diseases which forms an international network and is a point of reference at national level.

The Centre has a hub at its laboratories in Pomezia, in collaboration with its associates CNR, ISS and the IRBM Science Park and with a number of external partners.

The CNCCS collection provides an ideal basis for research in this field which brings together the public and private sectors, investors and stakeholders, utilizing this unique international collection of compounds and screening capabilities,

The central laboratories carry out studies on the biology of Rare, Neglected and Poverty-Related Diseases, identify new molecular targets and discover new therapeutic agents. The international network is formed by a number of leading international partners in their fields, who bring complementary knowhow for areas such as rare cancers, tropical diseases, genetic diseases and gene therapy.

Together, neglected and poverty related diseases kill approximately 14 million people annually. Amongst the new drugs approved between 1975 and 2004, only 1.3% had been developed for tropical diseases and tubercolosis, in spite of the latter accounting for 11.4% of all diseases, and new therapeutic agents in this field are clearly required.

The number of rare diseases known and diagnosed to date is between 7,000 and 8,000.The market for drugs to cure each of these single diseases is so small that the pharmaceutical industry has so far been reluctant to invest in the research and discovery processes required to develop effective treatments. As a consequence, the majority of these diseases remain without treatments or a cure.

The Centre’s main objectives are:

  • Validate new therapeutic targets in the field of Rare, Neglected and Poverty-Related Diseases.
  • Identify, optimize and patent new molecules that are shown to be active on the validated targets.
  • Generate new technologies in advanced research
  • Discover new therapeutic agents
  • Move forward these new therapeutic agents up to clinical trials.
  • Ensure development of new drugs through partnerships and/or outlicensing

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