Sanofi-aventis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced that they have signed an alliance agreement to research malaria treatments as well as the first research project agreement within the framework of the alliance.

As part of the agreement, signed earlier this year, both parties will work together to identify, characterize and optimize new candidate compounds to treat malaria and conduct early development programmes to demonstrate proof of concept in men. The three-year research project agreement, called “Orthology Malaria,” aims to develop drug candidates from a set of sanofi-aventis’ compounds that have been selected for their potential activity against malaria parasites. Each stage of the project will be evaluated by the sanofi-aventis/MMV joint steering committee and assessed according to MMV’s criteria for compound progression.

“Sanofi-aventis has a long standing history in the pursuit of novel anti-malarial compounds, which are essential to save the lives of more than 750,000 people annually.  By joining forces with MMV in the search for innovative anti-malarial drugs, sanofi-aventis will stay one step ahead in the fight against the malaria parasites that are beginning to show resistance to existing treatments,” said  Dr. Elias Zerhouni, president, global research & development, sanofi-aventis. “This new partnership will enable us to mobilize each organization’s expertise, resources and know-how to identify novel medicines for malaria patients.”

“The development of new malaria medicines requires the existence of a generous cache of promising compounds of which only a handful will emerge as ground breaking treatments, after a series of rigorous trials,” said David Reddy, CEO, Medicines for Malaria Venture. “Working with the committed sanofi-aventis team will help us fill that cache. Given the emerging threat of resistance to artemisinin in S.E. Asia, now, more than ever before, we need to ensure we have alternatives to artemisinin in the medicine chest, to fight this terrible disease.”

Malaria is a parasitic disease, transmitted among humans via the intermediary of the Anopheles mosquito. Malaria causes attacks of fever and various other disorders. The parasite, known as Plasmodium, colonizes and destroys red blood cells. It is the destruction of the latter that leads to malaria attacks, the symptoms of which are: sudden appearance of fever, fatigue, headaches, shivering, vomiting, etc.

Malaria atacks can sometimes become severe, leading to serious anaemia, convulsions, coma, and even death. It is estimated that malaria causes more than 750,000 deaths a year of which over 90% are in Africa and 85% are children under the age of five. Most of these deaths are due to lack of access to effective anti-malarials and erratic patient compliance.

Sanofi-aventis’ presence in the field of malaria dates back to the 1930s with the production of quinine derivatives. Today, sanofi-aventis is a leader in the fight against this disease through its Access to Medicines’ “Impact malaria” initiative. Because resistance to existing drugs will inevitably develop, constant search for novel compounds is essential. Thus, in 2010, sanofi-aventis Research and Development has created a Therapeutic Strategic Unit dedicated to new anti-infectives. Its scope includes multiresistant bacterial infections, but also tropical neglected diseases, malaria and tuberculosis. This unit manages several candidate drugs for uncomplicated and severe malaria, developed in partnership with academic institutions and research programmes.

Medicines for Malaria Venture, a not-for-profit public-private partnership, was established as a foundation in Switzerland in 1999. It is dedicated to the reduction of the malaria burden in disease-endemic countries with the discovery, development and delivery of new, effective and affordable antimalarial drugs.