Eli Lilly and Company Provides IDRI with Additional Funding for Identification of New Tuberculosis Therapies

SEATTLE, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) has been awarded more than $4 million in additional funding over the next four and a half years by Eli Lilly and Company.  The funding will support IDRI's continued early phase drug discovery research, which focuses on the identification of effective new therapies in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).

According to the World Health Organization, there were nearly 9 million new cases of TB in 2010, close to half a million of which were resistant to drugs that once effectively treated the disease. The currently used TB drugs were developed over 40 years ago; more effective therapies with fewer side effects are urgently needed.

IDRI is a member of the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative, a unique not-for-profit public-private partnership founded in 2007. Combining the efforts of government agencies, philanthropic organizations, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and other research institutions, the Initiative aims to accelerate early stage drug discovery in the search for new TB treatments. This additional $4.2 million in funding brings Eli Lilly's total support of early stage TB drug discovery efforts through IDRI to $20 million.

Philip Hipskind, Senior Research Fellow at Eli Lilly and Company said, "Through the Initiative, we have forged strong links with IDRI's scientists with the aim of leveraging the unique drug discovery capabilities of each organization."

"We appreciate Lilly's continued support and look forward to continued collaboration in identifying new compounds to combat this deadly disease," said Tanya Parish, IDRI's Director of Drug Discovery.

Additional information may be found at http://newsroom.lilly.com.

About IDRI

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) is a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization committed to applying innovative science to the research and development of products to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases of poverty. By integrating capabilities, including early stage drug discovery, preclinical testing, manufacturing, and clinical trials, IDRI strives to create an efficient pathway bringing scientific innovation from the laboratory to the people who need it most. For more information, visit www.idri.org.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company, a leading innovation-driven corporation is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA, Eli Lilly and Company provides answers – through medicines and information – for some of the world's most urgent medical needs.

SOURCE Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI)