MALARIA R&D CENTER PLANNED FOR UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Genzyme and the Broad Institute announced that they have expanded their collaboration to discover and advance new therapeutic candidates for malaria. The announcement was made in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the Abu Dhabi Bio City. With the aim of accelerating the discovery and development of malaria drugs, a Center for Malaria Research, Development, Distribution & Education will be constructed at the facility.

The renewed alliance will build on work begun earlier this year and will enable the expansion of a drug discovery program focused on identifying compounds that may offer a completely new approach to treating malaria.

The research center, planned to be finished by 2009, will seek to develop new malaria drugs and distribute them to the major regions of the Indian Ocean basin in which malaria is endemic, including the broader Middle East, East Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.

There are currently four early discovery projects in the MMV collaborative portfolio. All intellectual property developed under this collaboration will be made available to MMV on a royalty-free basis for use in developing and distributing new drugs for the treatment of malaria.