Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit public-private partnership, was established as a foundation in Switzerland in 1999. Its mission is to reduce the burden of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

in disease-endemic countries by developing and facilitating the delivery of

antimalarial drug Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young c ...

s. Its vision is a world in which these innovative medicines will cure and protect the vulnerable and under-served populations at risk of malaria, and help to ultimately eradicate the disease.

History

MMV was launched in 1999, with initial seed finance of US$4 million from the

Government of Switzerland The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

, the

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(UK), the

Government of the Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

, The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, and

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

. In 1999, the pipeline for new

s was virtually empty. The possibility of profit in antimalarial drug development was considered too low to attract pharmaceutical investment. Malaria was killing 1-2 million people a year, most of the victims being children under five and pregnant women from the poorest regions of the world. The drugs being used then no longer worked, and the need to act in the face of a projected public health disaster (due to escalating

drug resistance Drug resistance is the reduction in effectiveness of a medication such as an antimicrobial or an antineoplastic in treating a disease or condition. The term is used in the context of resistance that pathogens or cancers have "acquired", that is ...

) gave way to launch MMV.

Organization and governance

MMV is governed by a

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

chosen for their scientific, medical and public health expertise in malaria and related fields. Their research and management competence as well as their experience in business, finance, and fundraising is also managed by MMV. The Chairman of MMV's Board is Mr Alan Court. MMV also has a Board of Directors in North America, an Expert Scientific Advisory Committee which helps to identify projects, an Access & Product Management Advisory Committee and a Global Safety Board which reviews projects.

Project portfolio

MMV's project portfolio focuses on delivering medicines that are affordable, and accessible for use in malaria-endemic areas. Specifically, the goal is to develop products that will provide: * Effective treatment against drug-resistant strains of ''

Plasmodium falciparum ''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female '' Anopheles'' mosquito and causes the ...

'' * The potential for intermittent treatments (infants and pregnancy) * Safety in small children (less than 6 months old) * Safety in pregnancy * Effective treatment against ''

Plasmodium vivax ''Plasmodium vivax'' is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than ''Plasmodium falciparum'', the deadliest of the five huma ...

'' (including radical cure) * Effective treatment against severe malaria * and transmission-blocking treatment.

Access and delivery

MMV works in partnership to ensure the life-saving

antimalarial Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young ...

s emerging from its

research-and-development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

pipeline do not suffer undue delays in reaching patients in need. MMV's access team focuses on assuring acceptance of new medicines, expanding reach to vulnerable patients and measuring and evaluating impact and need.

Open source research

MMV started the Open Source Malaria project, which encourages those interested to share procedures and results of

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

research. The Open Source Malaria project received worldwide media attention after helping, together with researchers at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, to supervise high school students at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman ...

who adapted a synthesis of Daraprim (pyrimethamine), using a less hazardous method to improve safety, to illustrate the ability of enthusiastic amateurs to produce this drug. Daraprim has been marketed in the U.S. at $750 per pill due to non-patent exclusivity restrictions; the students synthesized it for under $20 USD.

References

External links

Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)
— official website
Medicine for Malaria Venture's Project Portfolio
* ttp://www.appmg-malaria.org.uk/publications/ The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases 6th Report, 2010br>The Global Health Case Study InitiativeGlobal Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medicines For Malaria Venture (Mmv) International organisations based in Switzerland Organizations established in 1999 Malaria organizations Medical and health organisations based in Switzerland