GSK and Johnson & Johnson Announce Malaria Vaccine Collaboration

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GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Bio) and Crucell NV (Johnson & Johnson) have announced a collaboration to develop a vaccine approach aimed at boosting the efficacy of the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S.

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today congratulated the companies on the partnership. “We are excited by the potential of this new endeavor for the field of malaria vaccine development overall and very pleased with the way in which the effort announced today aligns with MVI’s own research and development strategy,” said Dr. Ashley Birkett, director of pre- and early-clinical research and development at MVI. “The agreement between GSK Bio and Crucell is an example of the kind of collaboration that will be required to achieve the community’s goal of a highly effective, next-generation vaccine.”

MVI has strong and successful collaborations with each of the parties to this new agreement. MVI has worked in collaboration with GSK Bio since 2001 and is currently supporting the Phase 3 trial of RTS,S. Under an agreement with Crucell, MVI will support the first test in humans of a vaccine approach that includes weakened cold viruses coupled to a protein similar to that used in RTS,S (Ad35.CS and Ad26.CS). The newly announced collaboration will focus on a “prime-boost” approach, using the Crucell cold virus-derived vaccine candidate (Ad35.CS) as a first dose (prime), followed by two doses of the GSK vaccine candidate (RTS,S) to enhance the body’s ability to fight the parasite.

“With a first malaria vaccine on the horizon, we need to be thinking about how to prepare for this major breakthrough in the battle against malaria,” said Dr. Christian Loucq, director of MVI. “At the same time, this new agreement highlights the importance of investing in the development of next-generation vaccines—including those that build on the success to date of RTS,S—so that we can continue to close in on the elimination of this deadly disease.”

“MVI is committed to attaining a world free from malaria,” Dr. Loucq concluded. “We applaud this endeavor between two of our industry partners and hope that it will inspire others to join together in pursuit of ever more effective malaria vaccines.”

Source: PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI)

Malaria No More Refutes New York Times “Mission Accomplished” Story

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On April 1, 2011, the New York Times ran a story entitled: “Mission Accomplished, Nonprofits Go Out of Business,” and prominently featured one of the leading anti-malaria groups, Malaria No More, as an example of an organization that was basically close to completing it’s mission of distributing bed nets to populations at risk of contracting malaria, and would likely shut down by 2015.

The Times wrote: “A few nonprofit groups have recently announced plans to wind down, not over financial problems but because their missions are nearly finished. Most notable, perhaps, is Malaria No More, a popular nonprofit that supplies bed nets in malaria zones. Its goal is to end deaths from malaria, a target it sees fast approaching. The charity has announced plans to close in 2015, but it is keeping its options open in the unlikely event that advances against malaria are reversed.”

The New York Times story features an image of Scott Case, vice chairman of Malaria No More, with a caption indicating the organization will close in 2015.

Just two days later on April 3, Malaria No More released a statement, reprinted in its entirety below,  refuting the Times story:

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Yesterday an article appeared in the New York Times, entitled “Mission Accomplished, Nonprofits Go Out of Business”. This article has caused significant concerns and confusion, both for Malaria No More and our partners.

The premise of the article—that mission-driven nonprofits work to reach their goals and consequently shut their doors—is a good one. By focusing tirelessly on the goal, organizations drive for sustainable change and progress. Yet premature declarations of victory risk putting both the progress and the goal in jeopardy.

  • Malaria No More has never claimed “mission accomplished” against malaria and realizes the dangerous implications of such language, especially at this critical moment in the malaria fight. This is not language we use or condone and were shocked to see it serving as the title of an article relating to our work.
  • A caption claimed that Malaria No More was closing its doors, implying that this was effective immediately. We are not—and we will not do so until we reach our goal of ending malaria deaths in Africa.
  • Malaria No More’s goal is to end malaria deaths in Africa. While we hope to accomplish that goal by 2015, we will only close our doors on the accomplishment of our mission. We have not announced plans to shut down on a specific calendar date. The article itself claims that Malaria No More has announced that it is closing in 2015. This is misleading. The purpose of the article was to demonstrate nonprofits that choose to close upon achievement of their mission.

The entire malaria community should be incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made. We look forward to the day when no one is dying from malaria—but we know that there is a lot of work to do until then.

Join the discussion in the Malaria.com Group: Bed Nets Discussion.

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Sources: NYTimes; Malaria No More

Republican Budget Cuts Would Kill 70,000 Children Worldwide, Says USAID Administrator

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The GOP’s budget would cause the deaths of at least 70,000 children around the world who rely on American funding, according to the government agency in charge of foreign aid. Of the 70,000 deaths, 30,000 would come from slashing malaria control programs, 24,000 from lack of immunizations and 16,000 from unsafe birthing practices.

“I believe these are very conservative estimates,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah told a House Appropriations subcommittee this week.

Read more, via US News and World Report.

Blood Analysis Chip May Revolutionize Disease Detection

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Reporter Kara Tsuboi interviews researchers at the University of California, Berkeley who are working on a new blood-analysis chip or Self-powered Integrated Microfluidic Blood Analysis System (SIMBAS), that can potentially detect hundreds of diseases at once in a matter of minutes.

Bioengineering Professor Luke Lee and post-doctoral researcher Ivan Dimov are at the end of the first phase of testing. They say the  project will make testing for infectious disease faster, cheaper, and easier, which is especially important in developing nations where resources are scarce.

Read more via CNET Health Tech.

Global Fund Calls on Beneficiary Countries to Show Commitment in Attaining MDGs

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Dr Debrework Zewdie, Deputy Executive Director of The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has called on countries take up the responsibility of commitment to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) regarding the three diseases since it is only four years away.

She said beneficiary countries should be anticipating what to do when the donor fund collapses adding, countries should be able to contribute their counterpart funding for the running of the programme.

Read more, via Ghana News Agency.

Biomagnetics’ Commercialization of Integrated Optical Biosensor

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Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp.,  a developer of diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria detection, today announced details of next steps to be taken toward full commercialization of the Company’s flagship Integrated Optical Biosensor (IOBS) diagnostic system.

Biomagnetics is currently in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop an  integrated optical biosensor in a portable, handheld technology format designed to substantially lower unit costs and raise the detection levels of some of the world’s most prevalent diseases.

Clayton Hardman, CEO of Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp. stated, “We can now confirm that we are in the preliminary phase of design engineering as we work toward actual commercialization of the IOBS, a significant goal that represents the culmination of our efforts over the past year. After conferring with our design partner, Lathrope Engineering, we will be taking a twofold approach to best reach sales as soon as possible.”

Mr. Hardman continued, “Specifically, we will “ruggedize” the design of our bench top model for shipment and laboratory use, while concurrently miniaturizing the IOBS technology to fit within an easy-to-use hand held unit. We expect to receive a budget and schedule outlining the time-frame-to-completion for this project from Lathrope Engineering in the next two weeks.”

Source: Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., via Business Wire

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Launches AvecNet Collaborative Project to Fight Spread of Malaria

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The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) has launched a collaborative project to develop and evaluate new tools to control the spread of malaria in Africa. AvecNet is a five year, €12 million project involving sixteen partners in Africa and Europe, funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework programme.

Because malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, their effective control is essential to combating the disease. Wide scale use of insecticides on bednets and in interior spraying programmes has dramatically reduced transmission but continued success is dependent on a very limited range of insecticides and other tools.

AvecNet aims to secure the continued effectiveness of these methods into the future by developing and evaluating new insecticides and techniques that will overcome the growing threat of insecticide resistance, as well as designing new tools and interventions to target the mosquitoes that currently evade these control methods. The project also aims to increase existing knowledge about the biology and behaviour of mosquitoes to enable more effective control as urbanisation and other environmental factors alter the balance in this continuing fight against an evolving and formidable opponent.

Dr Hilary Ranson, Head of the Vector Group at LSTM and leader of AvecNet, said: “We need to secure the viability of existing malaria control programmes and expand their scope and reach by developing new methods and tools based upon a vastly increased understanding of how mosquitoes behave and react in different environments.

“We will also rigorously field test existing and prototype tools and techniques to both inform their further development and refinement and to add to the knowledge base from which we can develop further tools and interventions.

“By increasing research capacity in Africa and Europe and uniting people with skills in lots of different fields we are going to generate the momentum to achieve what we hope will be a number of significant breakthroughs in malaria control.”

Source: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Pharma Service Company Quintiles Selected for Gates Foundation Consortium Clinical Trials Work

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Quintiles,an integrated biopharmaceutical company, has been named a preferred provider to a consortium of 14 global health Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), funded in part by the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation . PDPs are not-for-profit entities formed for the purpose of advancing global health and the health of the world’s poorest by the discovery, development and delivery of new effective and affordable medicines for the most neglected diseases in the world.

The 14 PDPs anticipate funding 128 phase I-IV clinical trials over the next two years 2011-2013. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines and treatments for the world’s poorest countries, with a portion of that commitment directed to the PDPs. The PDPs also receive funding from government agencies, private entities and other sources.

Quintiles will partner with the consortium members by providing one-step access to Quintiles’ global clinical development infrastructure and standards, particularly in the area of infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

“Quintiles is extremely pleased to have been chosen by the consortium members,” said Dr. Kelly McKee, M.D., Quintiles Vice President and Managing Director, Public Health and Government Services. “The work they’re doing has the potential to reshape global health within a generation. The public health issues on which they are focused has the potential to save millions of lives. We are very excited to be named a preferred provider to the consortium and look forward to helping advance this critical mission.”

Source: Business Wire

Malaria Mosquitoes Reveal Pathogen Defense Strategies

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In analyzing malaria mosquitoes in sub-Saharan Africa, a Cornell-led team of researchers finds evidence of two very different evolutionary paths in the immune systems of neighboring mosquito groups.

Genes in animal immune systems may evolve in one of two main ways in the constant fight against pathogens: They may evolve diverse forms of genes (alleles) to fight a wide variety of pathogens, or when only a few pathogens dominate, they may evolve one or a few alleles that specialize against common infections. The Cornell researchers have found evidence of both these adaptive strategies occurring in the same immune-defense genes in different subpopulations of the human malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae.

via PhysOrg.com.