Medicines for Malaria Venture Joins iiCON Consortium to Accelerate Infectious Disease Drug Discovery
Key Insights
Medicines for Malaria Venture (search) (MMV), the world's leading antimalarial product development partnership, has joined the Infection Innovation Consortium (search) (iiCON) as a core partner to accelerate infectious disease research.
The collaboration will integrate MMV's AI/machine learning drug design tools and global screening networks with iiCON's platforms for natural product screening, antimicrobial resistance (search) research, and organoid-based drug discovery.
iiCON has secured over £251 million in investment since 2020 and has supported 36 new products to market, with over 5 billion units of life-saving treatments reaching global communities.
Medicines for Malaria Venture (search) (MMV), the world's largest antimalarial product development partnership, has joined the Infection Innovation Consortium (search) (iiCON) as a core partner, marking a significant expansion in global infectious disease research collaboration. The partnership brings together MMV's extensive antimalarial expertise with iiCON's comprehensive infectious disease research platforms.
Strategic Alliance for Global Health Impact
MMV, a non-profit organization founded in 1999, manages the world's largest portfolio of malaria (search) drug research and development projects. The organization collaborates with hundreds of partners, including pharmaceutical companies, universities, and government agencies, with the goal of reducing death and illness from malaria and supporting its eventual elimination.
Led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), iiCON is a global R&D program that brings together industry, academia, and clinical organizations to accelerate the discovery and development of new treatments, diagnostics, and preventative products for infectious diseases (search). The consortium joins existing core partners including Evotec, Infex Therapeutics (search), LifeArc (search), Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, Unilever (search), and the University of Liverpool.
Integrated Research Platforms and Technologies
Under the new agreement, MMV will work closely with several of iiCON's existing platforms, including the Natural Product library screening platform led by LSTM, the AMR Hits to Leads platform led by Infex Therapeutics (search), and the Organoid robotic and AI-enabled drug discovery platforms led by LSTM.
The collaboration will enable access to MMV's innovative drug discovery platforms, including AI/machine learning tools for drug design, and large screening networks with global partners for new antibiotics (search), antivirals (search), antiparasitics (search) and antifungals (search). Additional areas of potential collaboration include projects around long-lasting therapeutics through iiCON's Long-Acting Therapeutics platform led by The Centre of Long-Acting Therapeutics (CELT) at the University of Liverpool.
Leadership Perspectives on the Partnership
Professor Janet Hemingway emphasized MMV's track record in delivering innovative antimalarial treatments. "MMV has a remarkable heritage as an organisation that has led the charge to deliver equitable, innovative antimalaria treatments to communities across the world over many decades – driving innovation and saving many millions of lives in the process," she said. "We are delighted to welcome them as a core partner to iiCON. Our joint commitment to accelerating innovative treatments for infectious diseases (search) makes this an excellent fit."
Dr. Cristina Donini, Executive Vice President and Head of Research, Early Development and Modelling at MMV, highlighted the collaborative approach to global health challenges. "Collaboration is at the heart of our mission to improve global health. While our primary focus is malaria (search) control and elimination, this mission complements our commitment to accelerating drug discovery for a range of diseases. Joining iiCON is an exciting opportunity to fast-track innovations that will transform the fight against infectious diseases (search), for malaria and beyond."
Consortium's Track Record and Investment
Founded in 2020 with a £18.6 million Strength in Places Fund grant from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), iiCON has secured over £251 million in investment. The consortium has created 770 North West jobs and helped increase the region's R&D infection spend to over £1 billion since its launch five years ago.
Working with a global network of almost 1,000 organizations, iiCON enables industry access to world-leading infection R&D facilities and expertise. The consortium has supported 36 new products to market, with over 5 billion units of life-saving products and treatments reaching communities across the world.
Future Research Infrastructure
iiCON is currently developing the Liverpool Robotic Infection Research Laboratory, the UK's first Category Three Robotic Infection laboratory at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where new technology is being leveraged to accelerate infection R&D in the Liverpool City Region.