Eyam Health and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) are excited to announce a strategic research partnership to discover and evaluate next-generation monoclonal antibody-based approaches for affordable, long-acting malaria therapies.
This could be a game changer in accelerating MMV’s strategic ambitions to build the next generation of life-saving antimalarials in the face of increasing drug resistance.
This collaboration will harness Eyam’s groundbreaking technologies to transform how monoclonal antibodies are developed and delivered. The Jennerator platform uses advanced AI to rapidly design next-generation biologics, while the Gemini system enables those therapies to be delivered with unmatched durability, without cold storage, and at a fraction of the traditional cost. Importantly, Gemini can carry multiple antibodies at once in a single dose—making it possible to target multiple stages of the parasite’s lifecycle.
With almost 600,000 deaths and over 250,000,000 cases annually, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is not just a public health issue, it’s a massive economic strain. The disease primarily affects infants and children, as well as pregnant women and their unborn children. Moreover, it places a significant burden on caregivers and working mothers, who often bear the responsibility of caring for the sick.
One of the most promising aspects of the Gemini platform is its ability to carry multiple therapeutics and deliver them together in a single shot—for less than $1 per dose. A single long-acting injection could protect over 50 million young children and pregnant women for the entire rainy season (typically 4-5 months) during peak malaria transmission. It would significantly simplify seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), improve compliance and support further expansion, complementing the current suite of prevention tools including bed nets, vaccines and vector control. Importantly for pandemic preparedness, the Gemini platform as a nucleic acid-based technology will be readily adapted for local African manufacturing.
Brice Campo, MMV's Senior Director, Head of Biology and Novel Technologies, said
The collaboration with Eyam Health represents a great step forward in looking at innovative technologies that could serve the fight against malaria. The approach to develop affordable monoclonal antibodies with longer dosing intervals could be truly transformative for improving delivery and efficacy of broadscale preventive malaria campaigns including potential use in mass administration campaigns to accelerate malaria elimination.
Monoclonal antibodies have been considered a potential alternative technology for antimalarials thanks to their favourable potency, durability of response and safety profile. However, to date, monoclonal antibodies have had limited exposure in global public health due to their high cost of production. Eyam Health’s proprietary technology, Gemini, dispenses with the need for expensive lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Together with the extended dosage interval this makes it an attractive technology to evaluate in resource-limited settings.
The intersection of advanced biologics and tropical disease represents a paradigm shift in global health. Our partnership with MMV validates the transformative potential of our proprietary platform technologies while positioning Eyam at the forefront of next-generation infectious disease therapeutics. This isn’t just another biotech innovation; this is a new paradigm for global health.
says Dr Wilf Jefferies, Chief Scientific Officer of Eyam Health.
Eyam Health and MMV are committed to advancing healthcare solutions that are both effective and economically viable. This partnership underscores their dedication to addressing global health challenges with innovative technology and improving the lives of those affected by malaria and beyond.
For more information, read the original press release.
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