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Japan-based Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has announced a total investment of approximately JPY 1.73 billion ($11.6 million) in four R&D projects for the development of diagnostics and a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB), neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and malaria.
The GHIT Fund is investing JPY 390 million ($2.6 million) in a global partnership aimed at assessing and introducing an innovative TB diagnostic. This project is being led by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) hosted organisation Stop TB Partnership, in collaboration with FUJIFILM Corporation, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and research institutions in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Germany. The investment builds on a prior GHIT-supported project that received approximately JPY 600 million ($4 million) between 2016 and 2023 and seeks to bring a highly sensitive urine-based rapid test progressing toward implementation.
The project will evaluate the performance and feasibility of FUJIFILM SILVAMP TB LAM II, a rapid test developed by Fujifilm to detect urinary LAM antigens, along with a urine concentration device (UCD). This innovative diagnostic approach eliminates the need for sputum collection and has the potential to significantly improve diagnostic accuracy for a broad range of people—including those living with or without HIV, severely ill individuals, and children. By enabling earlier and more accessible diagnosis, particularly in underserved settings, this project aims to reduce diagnostic delays and disparities, help limit the spread of TB, and ultimately support global efforts to end the disease.
Additionally, the GHIT Fund will invest JPY 681 million ($4.5 million) in Phase I clinical trials of this promising vaccine, in a project jointly conducted by the Ohio State University and Nagasaki University. The project will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the investigational vaccine in healthy adults living in endemic regions of Brazil and Kenya. In addition, on July 25, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to initiate human clinical trials. This milestone represents a significant step forward in the fight against leishmaniasis and will accelerate product development and early access.
Further, the GHIT Fund will invest a total of approximately JPY 666 million ($4.4 million) in the following two R&D projects:
(1) Product development project for new rapid diagnostic test for strongyloidiasis by Drugs & Diagnostics for Tropical Diseases (DDTD), Medical & Biological Laboratories Co., Ltd. (MBL), IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Fundacion Mundo Sano, and Big Eye Diagnostics, Inc. (BEDx)
(2) Target research project for malaria diagnostics by Ehime University, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN) Nagasaki University, and Universiti Malaysia Sabah
