New collaboration to accelerate discovery of novel therapies for malaria
US biotech Genzyme and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit virtual r&d organisation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria, have entered into a new collaboration with India\'s Advinus Therapeutics. The collaboration seeks to develop new, improved treatments for specific patient groups most at risk for malaria.
US biotech Genzyme and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit virtual r&d organisation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria, have entered into a new collaboration with India's Advinus Therapeutics. The collaboration seeks to develop new, improved treatments for specific patient groups most at risk for malaria.
The ongoing MMV/Genzyme partnership also includes The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The team has begun to identify promising lead candidates, coming out of its innovative platform for high-throughput screening of several compound libraries. Among the kinds of compounds to be optimised, with the help of Advinus, are those active against key target enzymes that are essential for the survival of the malaria parasite.
With the complementary skills and experience Advinus brings, the collaboration will focus on identifying new molecules effective at fighting malaria, from early-stage screening to the first steps of preclinical assessment. One important aim is to develop therapies to address the danger of emerging drug resistance that current antimalarial treatments increasingly face.
"Malaria kills between one and two million people annually," said Dr Chris Hentschel, president and ceo of MMV. "New antimalarial agents are urgently needed, with eradication as our long-term objective. "The pipeline of new molecules that is effective against malaria must be made more robust so that we can develop the next generation of powerful treatments."
MMV is currently managing the largest ever portfolio of antimalarial projects in collaboration with more than 100 pharmaceutical, academic, and endemic-country partners. Its portfolio of around 40 projects includes nine completely new classes of compounds in the discovery phase. Of the five projects in clinical development, three are artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs), which are expected to gain market authorization between 2008 and 2010.
"India today is one of the few countries in the world that has not only the disease burden, but also the capability to research and develop new therapies for these diseases," said Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya, Advinus ceo. "Advinus, with its extensive drug discovery and development expertise, is uniquely positioned to work with MMV and Genzyme to address this crucial public health problem."