Founder of nonprofit drug maker wins MacArthur 'genius' grant
Victoria Hale started the first nonprofit drug development company, the Institute for OneWorld Health, out of her San Francisco home six years ago. Today she's one of 25 winners of a $500,000, five-year grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Hale, 45, was just getting out of bed and about to head to the shower when she got the call about the "genius" grant last Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. Once the news sank in, she started to laugh, then began to cry for about half an hour. The award validated the work she did to build OneWorld from the ground up, she says.
OneWorld Health aims to makes affordable drugs to treat diseases that ravage the population of the developing world, such as malaria. Its major backers now include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The nonprofit just received approval from the Indian government for its first drug, a paromomycin intramuscular injection used to treat a parasite commonly known as black fever.
The award "comes at a perfect time for our organization," says Hale. "We have been stepping back to ask what have we learned" from the first project. The group is also working on treatments for malaria and diarrhea. In addition, OneWorld plans to open two offices in India. Hale has a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of California–San Francisco.
After taking some time to relax, Hale plans to use the grant to explore new ways to expand OneWorld Health. The group is looking at new business models and is considering technologies beyond medicine.
"It's not enough to develop medicine, but we have to get it out into the field to have an impact," Hale says. "Then we see other things people need."
Among the other winners were scientists, doctors, authors, musicians, and other artists.