Pfizer Joins Innovative Partnership To Eliminate Or Control
10 Neglected Tropical Diseases By 2020

NEW YORK, N.Y., January 30 - Pfizer Inc. issued the following
statement today in regards to the announcement of an effort by 13
pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, U.S. and U.K. government agencies, the World
Bank and officials from NTD-endemic countries to accelerate
progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical
diseases (NTDs) by 2020.
                                  - - -
“Pfizer proudly stands today with the many public and private
organizations uniting to help eliminate or control 10 neglected
tropical diseases by 2020.
“In what is being referred to as the ‘London Declaration on
Neglected Tropical Diseases,’ partners pledge coordinated efforts
to address the world’s most persistent health challenges by
accelerating research and development of new treatments,
sustaining drug donation and discounting programs and increasing
funding for NTD drug delivery and implementation initiatives.

“This effort builds on the ongoing work of many partners
committed to improving the lives of the 1 billion people affected
by NTDs, most of whom are among the world’s poorest.

“At Pfizer, we are working to combat NTDs by collaborating on
drug development, broadening access to medicines and
strengthening health care delivery for underserved people.
Today, we remain steadfast in our fight and pledge the following
commitments to this effort:

o Continue donation of Zithromax ® (azithromycin) needed in
the effort to treat blinding trachoma until at least
2020. We will also provide our medicine for a study,
funded by the Gates Foundation, to evaluate the potential
for Zithromax ® treatment to reduce mortality in children
less than five years of age.

o Provide clinical expertise and support product
development collaborations with other partners for
improved treatment of the debilitating helminth
infections that cause river blindness and lymphatic
filariasis.

o Build on previous research partnerships by exploring ways
to provide targeted access to proprietary compounds to
help develop new and improved treatments for neglected
diseases that continue to have unmet needs.

“Pfizer’s commitments build on our ongoing efforts to fight
neglected tropical diseases, which includes the work done through
our support of the International Trachoma Initiative, by our
colleagues who participate in our Global Health Fellows program,
and through our participation in WIPO Re: Search -- a publicprivate
consortium for sharing intellectual property and
expertise with the global health research community to promote
the development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for the
treatment of neglected tropical diseases, malaria and
tuberculosis.

“We are proud to be a part of this innovative effort to support a
healthier world.”

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About the Partnership
The commitments announced by Pfizer are a key part of a new,
coordinated push by a diverse range of public and private
partners to combat 10 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by 2020.

Today, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S. and U.K.
governments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank
and officials from NTD-endemic countries, pledged to bring a
unique focus to defeating these diseases and to work together to
improve the lives of the billion people worldwide affected by
NTDs.

In the largest coordinated effort to date to combat NTDs, the
group announced at an event at the Royal College of Physicians
that they would: sustain or expand existing drug donation
programs to meet demand through 2020; share expertise and
compounds to accelerate research and development of new drugs;
and support R&D efforts and strengthen drug distribution and
implementation programmes. The partners also signed onto the
“London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases,” in which
they pledged new levels of collaboration and tracking and
reporting of progress.
New funding commitments will fully support work toward the
eradication of Guinea worm, as well as expedite progress toward
the 2020 goals of: elimination for lymphatic filariasis, blinding
trachoma, sleeping sickness and leprosy; and control of soil-
transmitted helminthes, schistosomiasis, river blindness, Chagas
and visceral leishmaniasis. For more information on this, please
visit www.UnitingToCombatNTDs.org

Contact with Pfizer Belgium/Luxembourg:
Daniel Van Bellinghen
Director Communications
02 554 67 22
0475 84 12 06
daniel.vanbellinghen@pfizer.com