Medicines for Malaria venture launches five-year plan for new drugs

Medicines for Malaria Venture has outlined a $600 million, five-year plan to develop new malaria drugs, SciDev.net reports. The plan was launched in conjunction with the release last week of the Global Malaria Action Plan, which aims to eradicate malaria worldwide.

According to the MMV plan, three new artemisinin-based combination therapies will obtain approval in the next few years, including a pediatric ACT from Swissmedic that is expected to be approved by the end of 2008. In addition, the ACTs Eurartesim and Pyramax are expected to receive approval from the European Medicines Agency by 2010. After obtaining approval, the treatments likely will be available in malaria-endemic countries within a few months, Anna Wang, MMV vice president for public affairs, said.

MMV also plans to speed the development of new malaria treatments, especially those that could replace ACTs if drug resistance develops. One possibility for the new class could come from the Ozonide family, Wang said, adding that this potential drug is "entirely synthetic, it mimics the fast-acting artemisinin, it seems relatively simple to make and it is not plant-based like artemisinin drugs." MMV also plans to research possible treatments for Plasmodium vivax malaria and increase clinical studies in specific groups, such as children and pregnant women. Wang said that she believes a single-dose malaria treatment "may be possible," adding that such a drug would "make a huge impact on the treatment of malaria."

About $470 million in new funding is needed to carry out MMV's $600 million plan, Wang said, adding that the group is "aggressively ramping up" fundraising activities and plans to increase MMV's annual budget from $75 million this year to almost $170 million in 2012. She added that it would cost about $420 million, including the cost of setbacks, to develop new combination therapies for malaria. Government donors and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation already have committed $130 million toward the development of new malaria treatments, Wang said (Shiow, SciDev.net, 10/2).