The Wellcome Trust, the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) have pledged over £10 million to a new partnership dedicated to malaria drug development.

The new programme, which received £6.4m from the Wellcome Trust, will be led by Professor Alex Matter of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) in Singapore – a partnership between Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board.

The NITD will conduct research jointly with several institutions, including the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and the Swiss Tropical Institute.

Scientists at the NITD will investigate the potential of existing compounds with some antimalarial activity, as well as exploring novel compounds. The research will focus on two main goals: a one-dose cure for Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of malaria; and new treatments for P. vivax, the most widely distributed cause of malaria.

Development of the most promising candidate drugs will be taken forward by MMV.

Image: Mosquito; Wellcome Trust Medical Photographic Library