MMV wishes to congratulate Prof. Michael A.J. Ferguson, its partner, board member and a prominent life scientist who has received a Knighthood in the 2019 British New Year’s Honours List.

Prof. Ferguson is Regius Professor of Life Sciences and Associate Dean for Research Strategy at the University of Dundee in Scotland. He helped build the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) at the university which works with partners to combat neglected diseases such as malaria.

In 2013, MMV and the DDU jointly discovered and declared as a candidate M5717 (formerly known as DDD107498), a novel and potent antimalarial compound which is active against multiple stages of the parasite lifecycle and inhibits protein synthesis, a process necessary for the parasite’s survival. In 2015 the compound was assigned to Merck KGaA and is currently in first-in-human (FiH) and volunteer infection study (VIS) trials.

“We are delighted that Prof. Ferguson has been given this important accolade,” said Dr David Reddy, MMV’s CEO. “As an active member of the MMV Board his direction is invaluable. We look forward to his continued mentorship.”