the

initiative

ReLeef

Program Overview

Rounded Rectangle: Key Facts About Cachexia
Cachexia is loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness and significant loss of appetite in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight. 

It can be a sign of various underlying disorders including advanced infections (e.g. tuberculosis, AIDS), cancer, injuries and autoimmune disorders. 

Cachexia physically weakens patients to a state of immobility stemming from loss of appetite, asthenia, and anemia. 

There are no effective treatments for cachexia and the response to standard care is usually poor.

Related malnutrition syndromes are kwashiorkor and marasmus, although these do not always have an underlying causative illness; they are most often a consequence of severe malnutrition.

Four Basic Principles

Our Program

 

 

Principle 1: To develop a product with extreme safety.

The organization is planning to develop a product consisting of active ingredients with uncompromised long-standing safety documentation.

 

Principle 2: To develop a product that can be manufactured at a very low cost.

The active ingredients will be manufactured via standard process chemistry. Our delivery technology will involve safe excipients, which are also very inexpensive to manufacture.

Principle 3: To develop a product that is compatible with pediatric use.

The organization is developing intellectual property around novel packaging formats combined with a new mini-particle technology that allows flexible dosing, taste-free coating and provides extended release compatible with a single daily dose administration.

 

Principle 4: To make the program self-sustainable through licensing agreements with for-profit industry. Releef is planning to out-license the rights to sell products based on our intellectual property to for-profit partners. The partners will have rights to manufacture, distribute, and sell products in developed countries. In return, Releef will obtain a royalty stream that can be used for purchase of product for humanitarian use. We believe that for-profit mechanisms are the best way to ensure sustainability.

           Program

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Tissue wasting in infectious diseases and cancer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formulation and dispensing technology for pediatric drugs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-clinical development

 

Clinical development

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The Releef Initiative is an IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization