Antimalarial drug development to combat antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance threatens the public health response to many diseases, including malaria. R&D into new medicines is the best insurance policy against the risk of antimalarial resistance; at the same time, it is yielding promising new compounds to fight other diseases at risk of resistance. MMV has been successful at replenishing the malaria drug pipeline and bringing new medicines forward, and its strategies to fight antimalarial resistance are relevant to the effort to contain all forms of antimicrobial resistance.
MMV’s strategy to contain antimalarial resistance includes:
- the development of patient friendly medicines, including children’s formulations that improve adherence to treatment and clinical effectiveness, which reduce the probability of resistance;
- the development and delivery of only high-quality, WHO-prequalified medicines;
- the development of discovery networks and assay platforms to accelerate the identification of the most promising compounds against malaria as well as drug-resistant strains of many other pathogens;
- support to national malaria programmes and other partners to deliver the right medicine to the right patient at the right time.