NIH And Industry Team up to Find Uses for Abandoned Drugs

Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Lilly will make dozens of compounds available for the project.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reached a deal with three of the biggest pharmaceutical companies that could breathe new life into unused drugs.

Many of the drugs that are developed are abandoned after proving ineffective for the use for which they were developed.

But it is thought that many could have alternative uses with a little extra research.

NIH's National Centre for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) has partnered with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and Company for the initial pilot phase of the initiative.

The three companies have agreed to make dozens of their compounds availabl