Malaria

Seattle scientist seeks a better malaria vaccine

John Carroll — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:25:47 -0500

Xconomy's Luke Timmerman tracked down Stefan Kappe, a scientist at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, to discuss his quest to find a vaccine that is 90 percent effective against malaria. Kappe has identified an experimental vaccine that will begin clinical trials next year at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. And he fully expects to take about 10 years to complete the vaccine work.

"We don't have a vaccine," Kappe told Xconomy. "For nearly 100 years, people have tried. It's one of the highest priorities in medicine, but we haven't been able to accomplish it."

Kappe's work has focused on the role of live-attenuated vaccines, such as the flu vaccine, for finding a more effective jab. He believes that approach will be more effective than the whole-killed vaccines that stimulate an immune response by appearing to be a virus. By concentrating on the full genetic blueprint of the parasite responsible for malaria, he could delete the genes necessary for the parasite to develop in the liver and deliver that modified parasite as a vaccine. It worked in mice and will now be tested in humans.

- read the report from Xconomy

Gates gives $168M for research into malaria vax

John Carroll — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:11:56 -0400

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is putting up $168 million to fund research into a new generation of malaria vaccines. The initiative is one of a broad range of new efforts around the globe aimed at eradicating malaria by 2015.

At a recent summit at the UN, donors committed $3 billion to the war against malaria. The World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria is putting up the lion's share of that money, with the British government and the Gates Foundation providing the rest. The donors believe that their efforts can save more than 4 million lives over the next seven years.

"We need innovation, new drugs, and the most dramatic thing we need is vaccine," says Gates.

The Gates foundation has donated nearly $1.5 billion to malaria research over the past 8 years. The organization came under scrutiny back in February when WHO malaria chief, Dr. Arata Kochi accused the Foundation of creating funding practices among their network of top malaria scientists that caused scientists' research to be linked to those of others in the group, making it difficult for scientists to objectively evaluate each other's work. The Foundation denied that claim.

- check out the Gates Foundation release
- read the article from the BBC

Genzyme joins malaria drug research consortium

John Carroll — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:14:01 -0400

Boston-based Genzyme has joined a research consortium targeted at finding new ways to fight malaria. The biotech company is joining the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the nonprofit Medicines for Malaria and India's Advinus Therapeutics to advance new drugs that target key enzymes responsible for the survival of the malaria parasite.

Genzyme moved into India a year ago with an eye toward assisting R&D programs for neglected diseases. The company says it has no plans to try and capitalize on any new therapies that are developed by the consortium.

"This collaboration is a powerful example of how industry can partner with others to fight the devastating impact of diseases affecting the developing world," said Henri A. Termeer, chairman and CEO of Genzyme Corporation. "We look forward to our collaboration with Advinus as we extend our efforts to improve human health into developing regions like India."

- see Genzyme's release

ALSO: Scientists have identified a virus that infects the world's most dangerous mosquitoes, and it may eventually be used to either kill off the malaria-carrying insect or prevent them from spreading disease. Article

Has the Gates Foundation created a malaria 'cartel'?

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has come under a rare attack for its contributions to research efforts targeted at malaria. The world's top malaria scientists are "locked up in a 'cartel' with their own research funding being linked to those of others within the group," according to a memo written by WHO malaria chief Dr. Arata Kochi, which was obtained by The New York Times. Now the scientists have a vested interest in protecting each other's work, making it difficult to gain a truly independent view of the science. The memo was circulated recently among the heads of health agencies, asking if they could detail similar types of struggles with the foundation.

The Gates Foundation, not surprisingly, rejected the argument, saying that no researchers are being held captive and that the foundation actively encourages external review. But there's no doubt that the foundation has proven enormously influential in malaria research, pumping $1.2 billion into the field since 2000. That money has gone to fight the disease in the field as well as fund a network of labs working on new therapies.

- read the article in The New York Times

ALSO: President Bush has been touting the results of a $1.2 billion program to cut the number of cases of malaria in Africa. Report