A UNIQUE medical partnership has been launched to discover and manufacture drugs to improve healthcare for Brazil's people, especially its young children who are particularly vulnerable to many diseases.

To foster the cross-fertilisation of ideas and technology the GlaxoSmithKline group has joined with Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) to establish a new research and development collaboration programme at Fiocruz to create a vaccine for dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that globally places 2.5 billion people at risk of infection.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is one of the industry leaders, with an estimated seven per cent of the world's pharmaceutical market.

GSK will also provide Fiocruz with access to the technology behind its vaccine for paediatric pneumococcal disease, internationally known as Synflorix. GSK will supply Synflorix to Fiocruz until the technology transfer is completed. Brazil's government will incorporate the vaccine into its national immunisation programme.

Abbas Hussain, president of Emerging Markets at GlaxoSmithKline, said: "Brazil has excellent vaccine research facilities. This collaboration with Fiocruz is a key piece of our strategy to partner with emerging middle-income countries.Together, we will be able to develop and make available new vaccines to benefit public health in Brazil."

The pneumococcal vaccine Synflorix, which protects against life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis and bacteremia, was approved by Brazil's regulatory authorities earlier this year (2009).

This vaccine has the potential to protect against more than 80 per cent of cases of these invasive pneumoccocal diseases in children younger than five years. Synflorix also protects against otitis media (middle-ear infection) that has a considerable impact on Brazil in terms of individual suffering and associated public health costs. It is one of the most frequently contracted childhood diseases, the most common reason for physician visits in children under three years old and the most frequent indication for prescription of antibiotics.

GSK Biologicals and Fiocruz initiated their first collaboration with an agreement to supply oral polio vaccines in 1985. Since then, GSK Biologicals and Fiocruz have formed several strategic alliances to provide Brazilians with key vaccines, including vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps and rubella, and rotavirus. This is the partners' first collaboration on an R&D centre that will focus on the development of novel vaccines.

Jean Stéphenne, the president and CEO of GSK Biologicals, said: "We have a long-standing relationship with Fiocruz for the production of vaccines, and this marks the first step of an even stronger partnership which includes a joint R&D initiative. With Fiocruz's expertise, we can help to protect Brazilian children from pneumococcal disease today and collaborate on innovative technologies to address Brazil's public health needs over the coming years."

Fiocruz president Dr Paulo Gadelha added: "This new agreement continues and expands Brazil's groundbreaking commitment to innovation in public health. The partnership will enhance Brazilian R&D capacity, improve the health of our citizens and cement Brazil's role as a leading partner on vaccines."

The alliance will foster the cross-fertilisation of ideas and technology, as scientists from GSK and Fiocruz work across facilities in Brazil and Belgium where GSK's vaccines division is headquartered. GSK has a long history of working with partners on every step of its vaccine pipeline, from development to manufacturing and distribution.

As the world's second largest pharmaceutical company, GSK has prioritised Brazil and other emerging markets to deliver and expand on its ambitious global business model.The latest partnership with Fiocruz leverages growing business opportunities in Brazil and follows closely on a deal with China's Shenzhen Neptunus to develop and manufacture flu vaccines, announced earlier this year.

GSK's vaccine business has one of the industry's deepest pipelines and pioneering research and development capabilities and which have produced 11 world-first vaccines.For more than 20 years, GSK's global business model has helped to ensure the availability, affordability and sustainability of life-saving vaccines everywhere, including the world's poorest countries.