San Francisco, Calif. - The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the U.S., today announced it has received a grant from The Lehman Brothers Foundation. The two-year grant will help accelerate the selection of promising drug leads to treat pediatric diarrhea, a disease area for which there are no adequate, affordable medicines for infants and children in the developing world.

Diarrhea kills approximately two million children under the age of five each year worldwide -- second only to respiratory infections -- and repeated episodes impact the physical and cognitive development of many millions more children. The only treatment approved globally for diarrhea in infants and children is oral rehydration therapy (ORT), which involves continuously spoon-feeding children a solution of sugar, salt and water to reduce dehydration.

"The Lehman Brothers Foundation grant will enable us to identify a few specific compounds that could lead to an antidiarrheal drug that would benefit children worldwide," said Victoria Hale, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of OneWorld Health. "We are pleased to see a leading member of the financial community take this interest in supporting global health."

"We are proud to be able to help expand the impact of the Institute for OneWorld Health's innovative approach by making possible the Institute's investigation into viable treatments for a disease that affects millions of children worldwide," said Francine S. Kittredge, president of The Lehman Brothers Foundation.

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first U.S. nonprofit pharmaceutical company, develops new, affordable medicines for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect people in the developing world, including visceral leishmaniasis, malaria, diarrhea and Chagas disease. OneWorld Health applies its entrepreneurial business model with a staff of experienced pharmaceutical scientists that identifies promising leads and drives development from pre-clinical studies to clinical trials through regulatory approval. The Institute for OneWorld Health, headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., is a tax-exempt 501(c) (3) U.S. corporation (http://www.oneworldhealth.org/).Media resources are available at http://www.oneworldhealth.org/media/index.php/.

Institute for OneWorld Health

Institute for OneWorld Health

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