What Global Health Innovative Technology Fund does

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) is a Japanese public interest incorporated association (公益社団法人) headquartered in Roppongi, Tokyo, that operates as an international public-private partnership fund for global health R&D. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Tachi Yamada and founding CEO Dr. BT Slingsby, GHIT mobilizes Japanese pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and research institutes to develop new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in collaboration with global partners. The organization is led by CEO Osamu Kunii and Chair and Representative Director Hiroki Nakatani, with governance provided through a Council, Board of Directors, and Selection Committee.

GHIT's core operational offering consists of four investment platforms that span the full drug development pipeline: the Target Research Platform (TRP) for early-stage target research, the Screening Platform (SCRP) for screening Japanese compound libraries, the Hit-to-Lead Platform (HTLP) for optimizing hits into lead compounds, and the Product Development Platform (PDP) for late-stage preclinical and clinical development. All RFP-based funding requires partnerships between at least one Japanese and one non-Japanese organization, and TRP project budgets are capped at 100 million yen (as of June 2025). As of February 2026, cumulative investments since inception totaled approximately JPY 42.5 billion (USD 271 million), supporting more than 100 R&D projects across malaria, TB, and NTDs including Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis, and increasingly mpox and Ebola.

The business model is non-commercial: GHIT does not sell products or services and does not generate conventional revenue. Instead, it receives capital contributions from a concentrated set of institutional donors — the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Programme, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and pharmaceutical industry sponsors including Eisai, Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo, and Shionogi — and deploys that capital as grants and co-funding to product development partnerships. As of April 2023, GHIT's active partner network reached 170 organizations, and recent funding rounds in 2025-2026 demonstrate continued quarterly investment activity alongside geographic expansion into West Africa and Southeast Asia.

Name

Global Health Innovative Technology Fund

Legal name

公益社団法人グローバルヘルス技術振興基金 (Public Interest Incorporated Association Global Health Innovative Technology Fund)

Website

https://ghitfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) is a Japan-based international public-private partnership fund that mobilizes Japanese pharmaceutical, academic, and research capabilities to co-fund the development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases in collaboration with global partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Global Health R&D Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Health Financing Mechanisms & Pooled Funds (HLAJAOAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Global Health Financing Mechanisms (HLAJAKAC), Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public) (HLAJALAB), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Global health R&D funding
• Public-private partnership
• Neglected disease research
• Infectious disease therapeutics
• Pharmaceutical co-investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Roppongi

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Funding and Grants: GHIT Fund operates as an international non-profit organization funded through global public-private partnerships. Funding sources include the Government of Japan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), pharmaceutical industry, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and various private company sponsors. The fund deploys this capital as investments in R&D projects targeting malaria, TB, and NTDs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The GHIT Fund is an international public-private partnership fund that provides grant co-funding and manages RFP-driven investment platforms (TRP, SCRP, HTLP, PDP) to support R&D partnerships between Japanese and global organizations developing new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. It mobilizes Japanese pharmaceutical, academic, and research capabilities and channels capital from government, multilateral, philanthropic, and industry funders into product development partnerships.

Product overview

The GHIT Fund is an international public-private partnership fund for global health R&D that operates through four investment platforms (Target Research Platform, Screening Platform, Hit-to-Lead Platform, and Product Development Platform) to fund the development of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. The organization mobilizes Japanese industry, academia, and research institutes in collaboration with global partners to accelerate product development for underserved populations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Target Research Platform (TRP) Early-stage R&D funding platform for target research on malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. Awards grants up to 100 million yen per project with terms under 2 years to partnerships that include at least one Japanese and one non-Japanese organization.
• Screening Platform (SCRP) Funds the screening of Japanese pharmaceutical compound libraries to identify novel compounds active against pathogens causing malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. Open to partnerships including at least one Japanese organization.
• Hit-to-Lead Platform (HTLP) Funds hit-to-lead optimization activities that convert screening hits identified by SCRP into lead-quality compounds suitable for preclinical drug development against malaria, TB, and NTDs.
• Product Development Platform (PDP) Funds late-stage R&D activities including lead optimization, preclinical development, clinical trials, and regulatory submission for drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics targeting malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. The most capital-intensive of GHIT's four platforms.
• Co-Investment Program Program enabling joint co-funding of R&D projects with global development partners and government research funders. Formalized via partnership agreements such as the March 2026 MoU with Thailand's TSRI, expanding the funding pool for neglected-disease R&D beyond GHIT's core PPP contributors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 610,000 deaths from malaria in 2024, 1.23 million from TB, and 1.5 billion affected by NTDs globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2026Signed MoU to strengthen partnership through co-funding opportunities for R&D targeting malaria, TB, NTDs, and infectious diseases with pandemic potential. Builds on Thailand's world-leading expertise in parasitic and infectious disease research.
• Pharmaceutical Industry PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple pharmaceutical companies including Eisai, Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo, Shionogi, and others participate as product development partners and sponsors.
• Mahidol UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading mRNA vaccine development for vivax malaria with USD 4.1 million allocation from USD 8.8 million investment round.
• Barcelona Institute for Global HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal partner in six R&D projects targeting malaria, TB, and NTDs as part of February 2026 investment announcement.
• EisaicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChagas disease drug development (USD 1.1 million) and compound library screening for malaria and NTDs.
• NIPRO CORPORATIONcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in prototype mpox detection test development (USD 460,000 investment) to create rapid, inexpensive diagnostic capable of distinguishing mpox clades.
• Japan Institute for Health SecuritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in mpox detection test development focusing on genetic testing capable of differentiating mpox strains with WHO approval as goal.
• FujifilmcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in TB diagnostic development as part of USD 11.6 million investment in four R&D projects.
• Stop TB PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal partnership for TB testing validation in Africa as part of USD 11.6 million R&D investment.
• Ohio State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in TB and NTD R&D projects under USD 11.6 million investment announcement.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduct Development Partnership (PDP) collaborating on multiple malaria drug development projects.
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPDP partner with established joint projects including Chagas disease drug development (E1224) with Eisai and NTD Drug Discovery Booster initiative.
• UNDP Access & Delivery PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to strengthen health systems in low-and middle-income countries so GHIT-invested innovations can reach more people faster.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TB Alliance: Not-for-profit PDP accelerating TB drug development. Highly comparable as a disease-specific, multi-donor-funded R&D intermediary that complements GHIT's TB investments via joint programming and shared clinical-trial partners.
• Unitaid: Global health financing facility hosted by WHO that funds innovations addressing HIV, TB, malaria, and pandemic preparedness. Comparable on pooled-fund PPP model, multi-donor governance, and role as a grant intermediary funding downstream health product development.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV): Product development partnership financing antimalarial drug R&D. Direct peer on malaria mandate, PPP financing model, and partnership structure — explicitly listed as GHIT's collaborating PDP on malaria drug development projects.
• Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND): Global health PPP accelerating development and delivery of diagnostics. Highly comparable portfolio overlap (TB, malaria, NTD diagnostics) and similar PPP financing and partnership-driven execution model.
• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Geneva-based public-private partnership that pools multi-donor funding to accelerate vaccine development and deployment for low-income countries. Most directly comparable to GHIT as a pioneering global-health PPP financing vehicle with a Japan-friendly donor profile and similar pooled-fund structure.
• International Vaccine Institute (IVI): International organization dedicated to vaccine discovery, development, and delivery for global health. Comparable on PPP-style international governance, vaccine mandate overlap (malaria, TB, NTDs), and location bridging Japanese / Asian / global stakeholders.
• Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI): Public-private partnership financing vaccine R&D against epidemic threats. Highly comparable structure (PPP fund, RFP-driven platform model, government + foundation + industry backing) and overlapping goal of accelerating vaccines for global health priorities.
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): Not-for-profit PDP developing new treatments for neglected diseases including Chagas, leishmaniasis, and NTDs. Direct peer on NTD mandate, not-for-profit PPP financing model, and explicit joint-project relationship with GHIT (e.g., Chagas and NTD Drug Discovery Booster).
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Largest multilateral financing mechanism for HIV, TB, and malaria. Directly comparable to GHIT on disease mandate (malaria, TB), pooled multi-donor PPP model, and role as a financing intermediary rather than direct R&D executor.

Broad incumbents

• PATH: Large global health non-profit active across vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics for malaria, TB, and NTDs. Comparable mission and breadth, but operates more broadly than GHIT as both an implementer and a funder, making it a broader incumbent rather than a focused PPP financing peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ghitfund
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ghitfund5135
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ghitfund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments13 records

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Frequently asked questions about Global Health Innovative Technology Fund