MMV has launched a new open source drug discovery programme, Malaria Libre, whereby researchers around the globe are invited to contribute ideas, offer to synthesize compounds or run assays to participate in the discovery of preclinical candidates for malaria treatment and prevention.

The aim is to spark antimalarial drug discovery by harnessing the diverse backgrounds and complimentary resources of participants from around the world, and providing immediately open and accessible data.

Participate in a global antimalarial drug discovery project 

Anyone can be involved in the programme – from drug discovery experts keen to provide advice and researchers contributing in-kind efforts from their laboratories, to members providing logistical or operational support. All scientific activities take place in the laboratories of participants and results are shared in an open forum.

In return, researchers will have the opportunity to be part of a global antimalarial drug discovery project, contributing ideas and analysis of data and participating in the identification of the first ever preclinical candidate from an open source project. In particular, universities in malaria-endemic countries may be interested as a way for their students to be trained as the next generation of drug discovery scientists.

Data will be updated as the project advances 

MMV scientists lead the community debate and progression of the project is based on agreed criteria as well as the guidance of MMV’s Expert Scientific Committee (ESAC), whose role it is to attract high-quality projects and steer them through the drug development pathway.

An open repository of data is available on MMV’s website for researchers to build on and share. The repository will be updated regularly as the project advances.

Discover our early participants from three Indian institutions

The programme launches with the participation of researchers from three Indian institutions: CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, a public institute working to strengthen and advance drug discovery and development in India; the special center for molecular medicine at Jawaharlal Nehru University, a centre of teaching and research based in New Delhi; and TCG Lifesciences, a leading global contract research and manufacturing company.

A platform for innovation and collaboration across different disciplines 

“Innovation is about bringing people together from different disciplines to solve a tough problem. This is a great experiment in seeing how open access can accelerate discovery” said Dr Timothy Wells, MMV’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Malaria Libre provides a platform through which researchers from all around the world can share ideas and build on each other’s data.”

Learn more about the programme or become a participant. Have questions? Email malaria.libre@mmv.org or join our LinkedIn group.