Novartis to lead malaria research project in newly created public-private partnership

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., May 23 - Novartis chairman and chief executive officer Daniel Vasella said that as part of a new public-private partnership, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) will begin research on malaria, one of the top three killer diseases in tropical countries.

In addition to the NITD, the partnership includes the Wellcome Trust, the Singapore Economic Development Board and Medicines for Malaria Venture, all of which will contribute resources totaling $20 million to the discovery of a next-generation of malaria drugs.

Novartis said the Singapore-based NITD will focus on the development of a one-dose cure for Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of malaria, as well as a curative modality for the widely distributed cause of malaria, Plasmodium vivax.

Research will be conducted with several institutions, including the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and the Swiss Tropical Institute.

"With 250 million people infected worldwide and more than 1 million deaths each year, malaria is one of the most pressing global health issues," Vasella said in the release.

Novartis AG is a pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland.

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