Cures Within Reach Announces Three Recipients of its 2020 Patient Impact Awards

CHICAGO - Feb. 26, 2020 - PRLog -- Cures Within Reach, a global nonprofit leading the use of repurposing research as a fast track to improving patients' lives, today announced its three 2020 Patient Impact Award recipients of the Global Health Repurposing Awards.  Repurposing research clinically tests approved drugs, devices and nutraceuticals to find new treatments for unsolved diseases.

• The Stanford SPARK Program at Stanford Medicine is the recipient of the 2020 Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is the recipient of the 2020 Golan Christie Taglia Patient Impact Philanthropy Award
• Camargo Pharmaceutical Services is the recipient of the 2020 Patient Impact Industry Award

Cures Within Reach will recognize Stanford SPARK, DNDi and Camargo Pharmaceutical Services for their outstanding achievements in creating impact for patients by repurposing existing science and medicine at patient education events to be scheduled at various times and cities throughout 2020.  During these patient-focused events, Cures Within Reach will celebrate:

• Stanford SPARK's interest in and support of the translational development of repurposing opportunities for both commercial and philanthropic treatments for patients with unmet medical needs, in a range of diseases via drugs, devices and other technologies.
• DNDi's financial and operational efforts to develop seven new treatments from existing molecules and recombining drugs to bring better treatments to patients with malaria, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, and pediatric HIV.
• Camargo's dedication to supporting the regulatory approval and development of proven therapies that enhance patient outcomes through the 505(b)(2) pathway and similar pathways worldwide.  As a trailblazer, Camargo and its founders were involved with the first private sector drug approval using the 505(b)(2) pathway – and since 2003 have improved countless patient lives by helping industry advance these therapies through regulatory approval.

"Stanford Medicine is greatly honored that Cures Within Reach has chosen SPARK to receive the 2020 Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award," said Lloyd Minor, Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. "This recognition not only reflects the breadth and depth of drug repurposing projects at SPARK, but it also reaffirms our institutional mission to benefit populations locally and globally. I am grateful to Kevin Grimes and Daria Mochly-Rosen, who have led this visionary translational research program that has become a model for many others around the world."

"DNDi is a bright spot in the challenging field of global drug development. The organization's commitment to neglected diseases has led to numerous successes in finding treatments for patients through repurposed drugs. Its work has been increasingly recognized by the patient community, the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry. Cures Within Reach is proud to acknowledge DNDi's achievements with the 2020 Patient Impact Philanthropy Award for which it is so deserving," said Kristina Allikmets, MD, PhD, Vice President at Takeda Pharmaceuticals (one of the pharmaceutical companies partnering with DNDi) and member of the Board of Directors of Cures Within Reach.

"We are thrilled to have such exemplary awardees for 2020.  Each of our 2020 recipients has made a strategic decision to support patient impact via repurposing treatments.  Camargo has been a leader in supporting the regulatory approval of proven therapies for new indications through the US FDA's 505(b)(2) drug approval pathway since it was created," said Barbara Goodman, President of Cures Within Reach.

The Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award is named in recognition of the impact that Dr. Janet Davison Rowley (1925-2013) had on patients through her clinical care and medical research, and because her pioneering discoveries that genetic alterations create diseases serve as the foundation of many repurposing opportunities.

The Golan Christie Taglia Patient Impact Philanthropy Award is named in honor of its first awardee, Chicago law firm Golan Christie Taglia LLP, in gratitude for its many years of financial and in-kind support for Cures Within Reach.

For more information about attending any of the 2020 GHRA events to hear inspiring stories, honor all awardees and support the Cures Within Reach mission, visit http://bit.ly/cwrghra2020

About Cures Within Reach
Cures Within Reach is a US-based philanthropic leader that improves patient quality and length of life by leveraging the speed, safety and cost-effectiveness of medical repurposing research, driving more treatments to more patients more quickly. CWR catalyzes research to facilitate and validate repurposing opportunities that create clinical impact. Through repurposing, CWR drives both market impact and health savings to patients and patient groups, from academia/researchers, with payers and the healthcare industry and with support from the government, philanthropy and others.

In 2019 alone, CWR began 6 new clinical repurposing research projects.  CWR currently has a global portfolio of 23 repurposing research projects at 20 institutions in 17 diseases. Visit cureswithinreach.org or follow CWR via Twitter @CuresWReach, LinkedIn, YouTube or Facebook.