The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named Victoria Hale, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of the Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), a 2006 MacArthur Fellow today. These prestigious Fellowships are awarded to individuals who have developed original and creative ideas that have the potential to make important contributions in the future. Dr. Hale is being honored as a Pharmaceutical Entrepreneur for creating a nonprofit model of drug development that is driven by the neglected health needs of people in the developing world.

“The MacArthur Fellowship will give OneWorld Health increased visibility and help us form entrepreneurial partnerships to ensure that people with the greatest need gain access to the new medicines we are developing. It will also help me look at ways to apply the model of OneWorld Health in other areas of global health,” said Dr. Hale.

Last week, OneWorld Health announced the approval of its first drug, Paromomycin Intramuscular (IM) Injection, by the Drug Controller General of India, for the treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis, one of the most deadly diseases in developing countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil.

The MacArthur Foundation does not accept applications or unsolicited nominations for Fellows. Only twenty to twenty-five Fellows are chosen through a meticulous review process analyzing their work and overall promise. Fellows are awarded an unrestricted grant of $500,000 distributed over the course of five years.

Dr. Hale’s recent honors include selection as an Ashoka Senior Fellow for leading work in social innovation (2006), Executive of the Year by Esquire Magazine (2005), the Economist Innovation Award for Social and Economic Innovation (2005), and the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2005). For more information on the MacArthur Foundation Fellows Program, visit http://www.macfound.org/programs/fel/fel_overview.htm .

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ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR ONEWORLD HEALTH

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first U.S. nonprofit pharmaceutical company, develops safe, effective, affordable medicines for people with diseases of the developing world. OneWorld Health applies its entrepreneurial business model to the unmet medical needs of the developing world through its staff of experienced pharmaceutical scientists who identify promising leads and drive drug development from pre-clinical studies to clinical trials through regulatory approval. The Institute for OneWorld Health was founded by Dr. Victoria Hale in 2000 and receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors. The Institute for OneWorld Health, headquartered in San Francisco, USA, is a tax-exempt 501(c) (3) U.S. corporation. More information about The Institute for OneWorld Health can be found at www.oneworldhealth.org . Media resources are available at www.oneworldhealth.org/media/index.php