The 8th African call for proposals from the Medicines for Malaria Venture

Applications are currently open for the 8th African call for proposals from the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) is a not-for-profit organization based in Switzerland that operates through a product development partnership model to provide a range of accessible medicines capable of treating, preventing, and eradicating malaria. Established in 1999 in response to the need for improved health equity, we address significant gaps in research, development, and access – engaging in comprehensive efforts to enhance the utilization of existing antimalarials and to innovate new compounds aimed at safeguarding public health. Our focus begins with women and children.

Our efforts are yielding results. By 2024, products supported by MMV have successfully treated approximately 711 million individuals and have contributed to saving around 17.4 million lives. We must continue this momentum.

Nevertheless, with more than a quarter of a billion malaria cases and 597,000 fatalities reported in 2023, the advancement towards the elimination of the disease has stagnated. MMV is part of a collaborative network of partners committed to reversing this trend. By uniting public and private sector stakeholders, we are at the forefront of developing innovative solutions that are in harmony with both local and global health priorities, fostering the equitable creation of effective and affordable products that aim to eradicate malaria and enhance health for everyone.

Our strategic plan focuses on developing and expanding access to effective medicines to cure and protect vulnerable and underserved populations, accelerate malaria elimination efforts and enhance global health security. The 8th African call for proposals is aimed towards this

Eligibility – 8th African call for proposals from the Medicines for Malaria Venture

• To qualify for funding consideration under this call, MMV invites proposals exclusively from African scientists concentrating on the following priority areas:
• Compounds demonstrating confirmed activity against any stage of the antimalarial lifecycle: Innovative molecules exhibiting confirmed activity (EC50 < 10uM) along with a medicinal chemistry strategy addressing any known or expected liabilities. In alignment with MMV’s strategic objectives, preference will be given to compounds that have the potential for optimization as drugs for chemoprevention, specifically those with a human half-life exceeding 120 hours.
• Assay development and screening: Development and screening of assays to facilitate the discovery or advancement of novel antimalarials.
• Computer-aided drug discovery: Implementation of computational methods (cheminformatics and/or bioinformatics) to identify new molecules with anticipated antimalarial activity or novel antimalarial drug targets.
• NEW Innovative biology: Large molecules, biologics, or oligonucleotides aimed at the treatment or chemoprevention of malaria.

Application Procedure – 8th African call for proposals from the Medicines for Malaria Venture

• The information provided below will aid you in crafting a well-focused application.
• Please utilize the Word document template available on the website for submitting your application.
• The first page of your application should include:

Project title

• Contact information for the Principal Investigator and partners (if applicable), detailing their areas of responsibility within the project, along with a brief description of their professional expertise and contributions to the team.
• The overall objectives of the project and the focus of the Target Product Profile – whether it is treatment, chemoprevention, or radical cure (delete as necessary).
• Project Focus – to specify the nature of the proposal (delete as necessary).
• Project Status (this may extend onto the second page).
• For medicinal chemistry proposals: the proposal will only be considered if chemical structures are provided, along with calculated molecular weight, clogP, and relevant parasitology data. If additional information (e.g., pharmacokinetics, physical properties, selectivity, in vivo efficacy, etc.) is available, it is advisable for the applicant to include this.
• For computational proposals: outline the methodology and its validation.
• For assay development and screening proposals: detail the assay, its objectives, its current status, and any screening data that has been collected.

The second page of your application should:

• Emphasize the critical issues and the strategies to address them. Examples include:
• Provide a concise summary of the medicinal chemistry plan, specifically addressing how the critical issues will be resolved and indicating specific compounds that will be synthesized.
• Identify any knowledge gaps or bottlenecks that must be addressed to optimize an assay and specify which compounds will be screened.
• Outline specific timed milestones for the project’s advancement and clarify what will be delivered with the grant.
• Include a maximum of two literature references, if applicable.

Application – 8th African call for proposals from the Medicines for Malaria Venture

• For details visit the Official Webpage of the Medicines for Malaria Venture’s 8th African call for proposals.
• Deadline: 29 August 2025