Genzyme and Medicines for Malaria Venture Announce new Collaboration with Advinus Therapeutics

Genzyme Corp. and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a not-for-profit virtual research and development organization have announced a new collaboration with India’s Advinus Therapeutics Ltd.

The collaboration seeks to develop new, improved treatments for specific patient groups most at risk for malaria, an often fatal infectious disease of developing countries, particularly affecting pregnant women and infants.

The ongoing MMV/Genzyme partnership also includes The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The team has begun to identify promising lead candidates, coming out of its innovative platform for high-throughput screening of several compound libraries.

Among the kinds of compounds to be optimized, with the help of Advinus, are those active against key target enzymes that are essential for the survival of the malaria parasite.

“Malaria kills between one and two million people annually, with the majority of victims being children under five and pregnant women,” said Dr. Chris Hentschel, president and chief executive officer of MMV.

“New antimalarial agents are urgently needed to stop this unacceptable loss of life, with eradication as our long-term objective. The pipeline of new molecules that are effective against malaria must be made more robust so that we can develop the next generation of powerful treatments. MMV is excited to be working with innovative research organizations like Genzyme and Advinus to identify these very molecules,” Hentchel said.