Call for antimalarial compounds

Call for antimalarial compounds

MMVoi

Image: Pierre Chassany

i

To continue to fuel the discovery pipeline and deliver new candidate drugs, MMV is seeking new chemical compounds to screen against P. falciparum asexual blood stages of malaria through the MMV open innovation (MMVoi) initiative. Submissions to MMVoi are open to all, from industry partners with large compound libraries, to small groups with access to a handful of compounds.

Compound submission guidelines

If the requestor has a compound library of >10 compounds, please contact the Head of Lead Generation at duffyj@mmv.org. For submissions of <10 compounds, please follow the guidelines below.

  • Requestors must fill out the submission form and include:
    • their contact information 
    • the compound’s SMILES 
    • the MAIP score (using the Malaria Inhibitor Prediction Tool, a free tool built using machine learning from historical malaria screening) and
    • a signed Material Transfer Agreement.
  • Natural products are accepted, but must be an isolated characterized compound of sufficient purity (over 95%) and not an extract.
  • Once the request is received, MMV will evaluate the compound(s) and inform requestors if their molecule has been selected for testing. MMV will confirm its interest in testing a compound by counter-signing the requestor’s Material Transfer Agreement and sending it back to them.
  • Requestors then ship a minimum of 10 mg of the compound/natural product to MMV’s compound management partner, SPECS. If the compound(s) is not confirmed as active, it will be discarded. 
  • Following the first round of testing, MMV will contact requestors with results and notify them if their compound has been selected for a second round of testing. 
  • MMV will share the results of the second round of testing with requestors and see if there’s an interest in additional testing as well as signing a profiling/collaboration agreement. 

Additional information

  • Structures submitted to MMV will be kept confidential and will be registered in MMV’s internal confidential ScienceCloud database.
  • Compounds will be tested as assay slots become available.
  • Initial data from the tested compounds will be shared with requestors within six months, and requestors will be informed if their compounds have been prioritized for further profiling.
  • Compounds of interest will be tested in additional assays, and data will be generated and shared through an Excel extraction within nine months. The requestor will be considered the owner of the data.
  • MMV will enter into future negotiations with requestors if compounds are of interest.

Please contact the MMVOpen team if you have any questions or require any assistance: MMVOpen@mmv.org