• Blog Post

Letter from Jutta Reinhard-Rupp, Head of the Global Health Institute

Publish Date

25 JAN 2019

Overview

A new year that opens with a renewed engagement by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to Global Health

Dear Colleagues,

The year at the Global Health Institute opened with a very important event: the visit of Stefan Oschmann, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, on January 17 in our offices in Eysins (Switzerland) in order to review the progress of the unit incepted in 2015 with the mandate to improve the health of underserved populations in developing countries by addressing unmet medical needs related to infectious diseases, such as malaria, schistosomiasis and other infections.

In the presence of Petra Wicklandt, Head of Corporate Affairs, and of the Global Health Leadership Team, the meeting was also the opportunity to discuss major trends that will impact the global health space in the future.

In a few years, the unit moved from an incubator to an internationally recognized institute, highlighted as a leading practice to accelerate R&D, incorporate access provisions and build capacity for projects and initiatives targeting schistosomiasis, malaria and other infections in the Access to Medicines Index 2018 report published last November.

The launch of the Muse Malaria diagnostic kit for research use, the progression of the Consortium Pediatric Praziquantel Formulation program to clinical Phase III, the promising Phase I/Ib results for the antimalarial program and the lead candidate selected through Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s drug discovery platform for malaria are only some examples of the major recent achievements of my Team.

I am very proud to lead the Institute.  Together with my team, and through science and technology innovation, we are on the right path to contribute developing solutions to improve health of vulnerable populations, mainly children and women.

Of course, we stay engaged and will continue our fight against the infectious diseases in focus.

Together with my team, I want to thank all our partners for their precious collaboration and support in the past and for future.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful 2019!

Very kind regards.

Jutta Reinhard-Rupp