Honda Foundation Contributes $500,000 Towards Medical Research

SOUTHPORT, Australia – December 4, 2008: The Honda Foundation will contribute $500,000 towards establishing a dedicated pandemic influenza research facility as part of a five-year commitment to Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics.

This significant donation from The Honda Foundation, funded by Honda Australia and the Honda Dealer Network, will assist in developing the next generation of anti-influenza drugs used to treat outbreaks of diseases, such as avian influenza.

The facility will be based at Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics, Australia’s only multi-disciplinary biomedical research institute dedicated to cracking the code of how carbohydrates and carbohydrate-related pathways are used in the establishment and spread of many significant diseases, such as various cancers, malaria and influenza.

The Institute has identified that certain carbohydrates can be used to develop anti-influenza drugs that will successfully treat influenza by immobilizing the virus and preventing further spread of the viral infection.

Chairman of The Honda Foundation, Mr. Lindsay Smalley presented the Institute with a cheque for $100,000, the first installment of the $500,000 donation, on behalf of The Honda Foundation at the Institute for Glycomics 2008 annual dinner, held on the Gold Coast.

“The Honda Foundation is proud of its association with this world-class facility, which is making significant inroads into the treatment of this potentially devastating disease.

“The Institute’s research will benefit people in Australia and around the world. We are pleased to be able to contribute towards this effort,” Mr. Smalley said.

Founded in 2001, the Institute is home to a multidisciplinary team of talented scientists, directed by Professor Mark von Itzstein, who led the Australia Prize winning carbohydrate-based drug discovery team that developed the first designer anti-influenza drug Relenza™.

Professor von Itzstein said The Honda Foundation’s contribution would fund the work of an Asia-Pacific influenza taskforce that the Institute has established with Institut Pasteur Cambodia and Hong Kong University-Pasteur Research Centre.

“I commend The Honda Foundation’s foresight in committing to fund this important project.

“Infectious disease outbreaks have devastated human populations for centuries. The danger is more acute now than ever, with international travel, climate change and more intensive agricultural practices driving the emergence of new viruses,” Professor von Itzstein said.

The Honda Foundation, formed in 1992, has donated more than $6.5 million in grants to a number of organisations within the Australian community.