Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)

31/07/2026

The loss of his brother to as a child inspired Prof. Abdoulaye Djimdéto dedicate his career to fighting the disease. Fifty years later, he’s one of Africa's leading malaria scientists.

His work has transformed our understanding of antimalarial drug resistance, influencing Africa's response to one of malaria's greatest challenges. He is also dedicated to mentoring emerging African scientists, strengthening the expertise needed to drive future .

Prof. Djimdé has been a long-standing MMV partner, including through the Phase 3 clinical development of ganaplacide-lumefantrine, a novel non-artemisinin antimalarial currently under regulatory review.

As partial antimalarial drug resistance continues to threaten control and elimination efforts, Prof. Djimdé's work is a powerful reminder that malaria innovation must draw on the expertise of scientists working closest to the disease.

Read his inspiring story in Nature Africa:

After losing his baby brother to malaria, Malian scientist Abdoulaye Djimdé devoted his career to tackling one of Africa’s deadliest diseases.

30/07/2026

Join us in congratulating MMV's Senior Director, Medical Affairs, André-Marie Tchouatieu, who was recognized for his visionary leadership in the fight against at the fifth edition of Benin's La Nuit du Paludisme.

The Exceptional Commitment Award celebrates André-Marie's success in mobilizing minds, inspiring generations and above all, saving countless lives.

Through initiatives such as the SMC Alliance and OPT-SMC, André-Marie has helped bring national malaria programmes across Africa together to share expertise and optimize the delivery of seasonal malaria chemoprevention.

In Benin specifically, he helped support the country's national malaria control programme's engagement with the SMC Alliance, including its first participation in an Alliance meeting in 2018, and the subsequent process of identifying priority areas for SMC rollout.

Today, these partnerships continue to strengthen collaboration across Africa, helping more children access life-saving malaria prevention.

We’re proud to work alongside André-Marie as partners in the networks he has helped strengthen across Africa, united by our shared goal of building a malaria-free future.

Congrats, André!

29/07/2026

The future of prevention isn't one tool; it's how well the right tools work together.

Ghana’s 86% reduction in malaria deaths among children under 5 between 2019 and 2024 shows the value of layering interventions. It combined malaria with insecticide-treated bed nets, prompt diagnosis and treatment, and delivery strategies designed around the needs of families and communities.

More broadly, the complementarity of prevention tools will be critical to sustaining progress against the disease. Insecticide-treated bed nets, chemoprevention and vaccines form a powerful trio, protecting children in different ways and at different points in the transmission cycle.

As resistance, climate change and funding pressures threaten to reverse hard-won gains, ensuring the complementarity of these tools to maximize impact will be essential.

This Health Policy Watch article explores what Ghana’s experience can teach us about combining evidence, effective delivery and community trust.

Read the article here: bit.ly/4fRxcH6

23/07/2026

Led by Dr. Martin Fitchet, CEO, an MMV delegation met yesterday with Professor Norihiro Kokudo, President of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, and Dr. Shigeyuki Kano, Director of the Department of Tropical Medicine and Malaria, at the Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS).

During the introductory meeting, the MMV delegation were provided with an overview of Japan’s approach to and health security, as well as the hospital facilities for tropical medicine, and MMV introduced the JIHS leadership to MMV’s pipeline of innovative malaria medicines.

We look forward to future collaboration with JIHS as we partner with Japan’s science ecosystem to combat malaria together.

22/07/2026

Long-acting injectables could provide protection from malaria for up to 6 months with a single administration.

Cristina Donini explains how it works.

Reaching zero won't happen with the tools we have today. It requires continued and the sustained commitment to get these breakthroughs to the people who need them most.

Thank you to Malaria No More UK for partnering with us on this video.

21/07/2026

Today, leading researchers, policymakers, funders and industry partners from Japan and around the world convened in Tokyo for a symposium on the future of R&D.

Co-hosted by the Gates Foundation, the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund and MMV, the event highlighted Japan’s enduring role within the global malaria community.

During the symposium, participants explored how Japan's scientific expertise, pharmaceutical innovation and sustained support for collaborative R&D are helping advance next-generation interventions. These include long-acting prevention tools and new treatment combinations designed to address the threat of antimalarial drug resistance.

Read more about the discussions and partnerships helping strengthen the malaria pipeline: bit.ly/4pucJLR

21/07/2026

From discovery to delivery, collaboration across the global community underpins innovation and progress.

Japan is a critical partner in this global community, contributing research expertise, pharmaceutical innovation and a collaborative approach to science that is helping expand the antimalarial toolkit with next-generation interventions.

Today in Tokyo, MMV, the Gates Foundation and the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund hosted a Symposium on Malaria R&D. This special event convened stakeholders from across the global malaria community to spotlight Japan's contributions to malaria R&D and strengthen the partnerships needed to move closer to a malaria-free future.

Here are three ways Japan contributes to the fight against one of the world's deadliest diseases.

15/07/2026

A potential new medicine with a novel mechanism of action has shown promising results in its first study in humans.

Led by QIMR Berghofer researchers in collaboration with UniSC Clinical Trials, and sponsored by MMV and GSK, the early-stage study found the investigational non-artemisinin medicine rapidly killed malaria parasites and was generally well tolerated in infected volunteers.

Belonging to a novel class of molecules that target the malaria parasite in a completely new way, it represents a promising candidate for future combination therapies to help address the growing threat of drug resistance, with the potential to be administered as a single-dose treatment.

Read the press release: bit.ly/3T5KJ4Y

14/07/2026

A single-dose cure or simplified regimen for : one patient, one visit, one treatment.

Reaching zero malaria won't happen with the tools we have today. It requires continued innovation and the sustained commitment to get these breakthroughs to the people who need them most.

In this short video, MMV’s head of R&D Cristina Donini explains how developing a single-dose cure or simplified regimen could change the trajectory of malaria.

Thank you to Malaria No More UK for partnering with us on this video.

13/07/2026

Last week in Geneva, representatives of MMV met with the Ghana Food and Drug Authority and the Ghana Mission to Switzerland to explore opportunities to strengthen regulatory collaboration through capacity building, local manufacturing, digital innovation and regional cooperation.

During the exchange, participants discussed opportunities for closer engagement, with the Ghana FDA expressing strong interest in the joint MMV–DNDi regulatory sciences platform.

The meeting brought together Fabienne Benoist, who leads the joint regulatory platform; André-Marie Tchouatieu, MMV's Senior Director of Medical Affairs; H.E. Emmanuel Kwame Asiedu Antwi, Ghana's Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation and Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva; and Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Manso Opuni, Acting CEO of the Ghana Food and Drug Authority.

We look forward to building on these discussions with our partners in Ghana and working together to strengthen the systems supporting the development, evaluation and delivery of new medicines.