A nonprofit that dares compete with everyone's favorite hobgoblin-- the dreaded, all powerful, fang-encrusted Big Pharma-- is now on the scene. Armed with a sexy business model and strong partnership potential, the Institute for OneWorld Health, founded by former FDA analyst Victoria Hale, looks for what she describes as "the low hanging-fruit", or underutilized drugs abandoned by major pharmaceutical companies, and matches them against tropical diseases with low profit potential.
OWH already scored with paromomycin, an antiobiotic that cures black fever. Next, OWH tackles malaria with artemisinin and $43 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Other donors include the Phizer Foundation, the Gap Foundation, Lehman Brothers Foundation, and Theta Delta Chi Fraternity. Self-interest remains quite captivating.
