A new analysis of progress in the global fight against malaria finds a four-fold increase in annual funding for malaria research and development (R&D) in just 16 years—increasing from US$121 million in 1993 to US$612 million in 2009, with a particularly rapid increase since 2004. The funding has generated the strongest pipeline of malaria control and prevention products in history.

The report warns, however, that even a small decline in annual funding could jeopardize this pipeline, derail development of needed products, and paradoxically also increase development costs later. The report’s authors assessed progress to date against the R&D funding goals in the 2008 Global Malaria Action Plan and what will be needed in the coming decade to deliver the suite of products needed to manage, eliminate and—ultimately—eradicate malaria from the world. The answer is sustained, relatively modest increases that will boost total annual funding to US$690 million by 2015, followed by a larger jump in 2016 to US$785 million. [Read more…]