Dive Brief:
- Eli Lilly has committed $90 million over five years to improving access to healthcare through its Lilly Global Health Partnership. The initiative aims to reach 30 million people in "resource-limited settings" by 2030.
- Known as Lilly 30x30, the program will focus on diabetes, cancer and tuberculosis care in communities across Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the U.S.
- Half of funding will come from company funds, while the remainder will be financed by the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. Fifteen million dollars will go to the Infectious Disease research Institute (IDRI), extending an existing eight drug discovery collaboration to develop TB therapeutics.
Dive Insight:
In resource-limited settings, people or governments don't always have enough funds to cover healthcare costs. This can translate to limited access to medication, while healthcare systems don't have the up-to-date equipment and trained people that they need. In 2015, Eli Lilly said it had reached five million people in resource-limited settings outside of its traditional business. The company's aim is to increase the number six-fold by 2030.
"Over the last two decades, we have made tremendous progress in expanding access to quality care in poorer communities, but we can and must do more. Lilly 30x30 is a company-wide mandate to achieve a six-fold increase in the number of people we reach annually, outside of our traditional business," said John C. Lechleiter, Lilly president and CEO.
Lilly's 30x30 program will include strengthening local health systems, educating patients and developing innovative business models. It will also include developing drugs, delivery and packaging designed towards patients in resource-limited settings.
Lilly has a heritage in global health, from Project HOPE in the late 1950s to its MDR-TB Partnership for tuberculosis.