The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) now has the rights to “develop a class of potential anti-[tuberculosis] compounds” for the treatment of Chagas disease, African sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis, Reuters reports (Nebehay, 7/7). The deal, approved by the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is the “first-ever royalty-free license agreement between two not-for profit drug developers,” according to a TB Alliance press release (7/7).

“There are innovative ways to share knowledge, to avoid duplication in research, thereby saving costs and speeding up the R & D process for the benefit of the patients,” DNDi’s Executive Director Bernard Pecoul said, according to Reuters. “One of the furthest advanced and most promising TB drug candidates covered by the agreement” is a compound from the nitroimidazole drug class, which “many pathogens causing neglected diseases are susceptible to,” according to drug developers (7/7).