The Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), the US-based non-profit pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for people with infectious diseases in the developing world, brought together a distinguished group of global health experts for a symposium at PEDICON 2008, the 45th National Conference of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. Thousands of leading pediatricians, scientists and global health experts from around the world have gathered at PEDICON to discuss preventive, curative, development, social and psychological aspects associated with the various disciplines of childhood diseases and disabilities.

OneWorld Health’s symposium Current Trends in Diarrheal Diseases Research and Case Management: Progress in Zinc Supplementation Therapy” took place on January 18. The symposium highlighted clinical and programmatic evidence of the success of zinc as an effective therapy for diarrheal disease, a critical health issue that disproportionately affects impoverished populations. The program also promoted discussion of diarrheal disease as a major neglected disease requiring heightened awareness, broader education, and increased attention and resources.

“The tremendous burden of diarrheal disease attests to its status as a truly neglected disease and affirms the need for new and more effective therapies to be implemented in highly endemic countries” said Ahvie Herskowitz, MD, OneWorld Health’s Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer. ”OneWorld Health is gratified to contribute to the global public health community’s efforts to share findings and strategies, and work together to effectively combat this devastating disease.”

The symposium was co-chaired by Dr. Susan Wilson, Senior Program Director of OneWorld Health’s Diarrheal Disease Program and Dr. HPS Sachdev, former president of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP). Panelists presented scientific, clinical, and operational developments in the newly endorsed therapy for diarrheal disease case management – zinc supplementation with Oral Rehydration Solution– and discussed current understanding of mechanisms of action for anti-diarrheal agents including zinc, recent results from zinc clinical efficacy trials, and successes and challenges in implementing the use of zinc into the management of diarrhea in India.

Program topics and participants included

• Professor Henry Binder, Yale University – Mechanisms of action of various anti-diarrheal agents, with an emphasis on Zinc’s Mechanism Of Action, and other anti-secretory approaches.

• Dr. Panna Choudhury, President-Elect IAP – Evidence from human trials on zinc therapy for treatment of diarrheal disease, and an update on IAP and World Health Organization regional recommendations on zinc.

• Mr. Deepak Saksena, POUZN Project Country Director, India – Innovative strategy for the introduction of zinc in India.

The symposium was made possible by generous support from The Lehman Brothers Foundation. Grants from The Lehman Brothers Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have enabled OneWorld Health to expand its research on new treatments to complement traditional approaches for fighting diarrhea.

Diarrheal diseases are a leading cause of death in children under the age of five worldwide, killing more than 2 million children and contributing to the deaths of an additional four million children each year. The pediatric death toll due to diarrheal disease exceeds that of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

OneWorld Health is assembling a portfolio of product candidates to address various aspects of secretory diarrheal diseases, with a special focus on treatments for infants and young children. OneWorld Health’s research aims to develop new treatments for secretory diarrheal disease, particularly anti-secretory drugs that inhibit the loss of fluid in the intestine. These drugs are designed to be used as an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for the treatment of life-threatening enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and cholera, which are responsible for nearly 40% of reported cases of diarrheal disease.

OneWorld Health’s approach to anti-diarrheal drug developments began with an initial lead project to discover, optimize and develop drug candidates that treat diarrhea via inhibition of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) chloride channel. Targeting host mechanisms such as the CFTR channel is a novel approach to the treatment of secretory diarrheal diseases. OneWorld Health is conducting searches to license potential drug candidates and has consulted with leading researchers to evaluate promising products and identify key development challenges.

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About the Institute for OneWorld Health

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first US nonprofit pharmaceutical company, develops safe, effective and affordable new medicines for people with infectious diseases in the developing world. The Institute for OneWorld Health, headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) US corporation (http://www.oneworldhealth.org/) ). Media resources are available at http://www.oneworldhealth.org/media/index.php/ .

About Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers (ticker symbol: LEH), an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide. Founded in 1850, Lehman Brothers maintains leadership positions in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private investment management, asset management and private equity. The Firm is headquartered in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, and operates in a network of offices around the world. For further information about Lehman Brothers’ services, products and recruitment opportunities, visit the Firm’s Web site at www.lehman.com .