Novartis R&D for Malaria

Novartis is working with the WHO’s Tropical Disease Research Programme (TDR) and the Government of Zambia to study the use of Artemisinin Combination Therapy to treat uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in pregnant women, for which there is currently little reliable data available.

Novartis is also working with the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) to develop a pediatric formulation for Coartem®; an important need, given the disproportionate vulnerability of children under 5 years old to malaria. Clinical development took place in several African countries.

Since 2007, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) in Singapore is working with MMV, the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Wellcome Trust to discover new malaria medicines.

The partnership is focusing on the development of a one-dose cure for P. falciparum, the most dangerous form of malaria, and a curative modality for P. vivax, the most frequent-occurring and widely distributed type of malaria. NITD will manage the program and conduct research jointly with several institutes including the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, the Swiss Tropical Institute and the Biomedical Primate Research Center.