Global Health Drug Discovery Institute

Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) is a nonprofit institution established in 2016 as China's first public-private partnership focusing on innovative research in drug discovery. The institute primarily concentrates on developing new drugs for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which significantly impact vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. GHDDI's work aims to address the disparity in global health research priorities, as these countries bear 90% of the global infectious disease burden but receive only 10% of global drug research and development spending.

GHDDI has built a state-of-the-art research center and established an extensive global drug discovery network. Its preclinical pipeline contained more than 10 projects, including a promising antimalarial candidate developed in collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture and Malaria Drug Accelerator. This candidate has shown potential in reducing drug resistance, minimizing dosage, and possibly preventing malaria. The institute has also made progress in discovering novel compounds that may have synergistic effects with existing anti-tuberculosis drugs, potentially shortening the treatment regimen for tuberculosis.

In January 2024, GHDDI, in collaboration with Microsoft Research, achieved significant progress in accelerating drug discovery for global infectious diseases. Using generative AI and foundation models, the joint team designed several small molecule inhibitors for essential target proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and coronaviruses in just five months, a process that typically takes several years. These AI-generated molecules feature novel scaffold structures, offering the potential for developing a new class of drug candidates that could address the challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

Key customers and partnerships

GHDDI has formed several notable partnerships to advance its research goals. In June 2023, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a renewed collaboration with GHDDI, providing USUSD 50 million over five years to bolster the institute's drug discovery capacity. This funding is matched by the Beijing Municipal Government, with additional support from Tsinghua University. GHDDI also collaborates with international research institutions, including Medicines for Malaria Venture and Malaria Drug Accelerator, on various projects targeting infectious diseases. In January 2024, GHDDI partnered with Microsoft Research to leverage AI technology for accelerating drug discovery, focusing on diseases such as tuberculosis, viral infections, and malaria.