MMV awards Dr Stephen Brand-led team for developing innovative dose prediction tool 'MMVSola'
Team recognized for the development of a tool capable of revolutionizing malaria treatment
Today, at an online meeting of MMV's independent Expert Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC), the Project of the Year 2022 was awarded to a team of scientific experts who developed 'MMVSola,' a tool for predicting human pharmacokinetics[1] (PK) and dosage of compounds in drug development. Led by Dr Stephen Brand at MMV, the team's outstanding work has the potential to revolutionize malaria treatment and prevention strategies.
The MMVSola project
“MMVSola is an innovative, open-access, and user-friendly application that uses the properties of a compound to calculate the necessary dose for treating malaria or preventing infection,” says Dr Brand. “The tool was named in memory of Dr Suresh Solapure, a long-term collaborator and friend of MMV who sadly passed away in 2016.”
Recognition and impact
MMV's ESAC selected MMVSola for its outstanding ability to assist discovery teams in estimating human PK and dose for their lead compounds. The tool aids in identifying optimization parameters and selecting the most promising candidate from a series, aligning with MMV's strict dose criteria. This supports MMV's mission of developing cost-effective, single-dose drugs for malaria prevention and treatment while promoting patient adherence.
“MMVSola has had a transformative impact on MMV's discovery projects,” said Prof. Dennis Smith, DMPK expert and ESAC member. “It has been instrumental in achieving the challenging goal of designing medicines that require infrequent administration, such as once a month. This offers significant improvements in treatment convenience and patient outcomes.”
Acknowledging excellence
Dr Peter Webborn, an independent drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) consultant; Dr Ghaith Aljayyoussi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; and Dr Venelin Mitov, a modeling and simulation scientist and programmer with IntiQuan GmbH. were key members of the team led by Dr Stephen Brand, receiving well-deserved recognition for their invaluable contributions to the development of MMVSola. Their expertise and dedication have propelled the project's success, advancing malaria research and the pursuit of more effective and accessible treatment options.
With this prestigious award, MMV expresses its gratitude to the entire team for their outstanding efforts and contributions to improving malaria treatment. Their groundbreaking work with MMVSola brings hope for a future where malaria can be effectively controlled and ultimately eliminated.
[1] Pharmacokinetics studies how drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body. It helps understand drug movement, transformation, and activity duration, vital for dosing and therapeutic optimization.