The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation has announced a five-year, $30 million commitment to support the third and final stage of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership.

Launched in 2003 with $70 million from Eli Lilly and Company, the partnership is designed to strengthen the global battle against multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, elevate MDR-TB on the global health agenda, and transfer to other manufacturers the technology for two Lilly medicines used to treat MDR-TB. In 2007, the company expanded the duration and scope of the partnership by committing $50 million to the effort and an additional $15 million for early drug discovery efforts.

New funding from the foundation will be used to advance the partnership's efforts in two areas. Starting in 2012, grant monies will be used to support training for professional healthcare workers such as nurses and doctors as well as informal caregivers such as community volunteers. The grant also will be used to help improve the supply of and access to safe, effective, and quality-assured second-line drugs. Currently fewer than one-third of MDR-TB patients globally receive appropriate second-line treatment.

While the partnership will continue to work with partners around the world and at local levels, it will focus much of its attention on China, India, Russia, and South Africa, where the burden of MDR-TB is greatest. To that end, the partnership will conduct studies and collect data on new and existing best practices, work with partners to share data and learnings, inform key stakeholders about the findings, and encourage the adaptation and scale-up of proven, cost-effective solutions.

"We are very proud to make this announcement today. Yet our financial contribution is small compared to the billions of dollars needed to fight MDR-TB," said Eli Lilly and Company president, CEO, and chairman John C. Lechleiter. "Our goal over the next five years is to focus the partnership on finding effective new approaches that improve patient outcomes and that can be replicated by others."