Malaria
GSK’s research into malaria has been done in collaboration with several collaborators, including the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Since we began in 2000, we have had a number of exciting new leads to follow in our quest to developing new medicines to fight malaria. Most recently scientists from the Tres Cantos site published over 13,500 promising potential hits to stimulate drug discovery efforts for new medicines to treat malaria.
This publication and the sharing of the data on websites is designed to encourage further research by the scientific community, bringing more minds to bear on this challenging disease. The chemical structures and associated assay data of these compounds are now stored on leading public scientific websites:
Malaria: a global problem
Malaria kills. Despite the increased use of preventative strategies, such as nets and insecticides, the World Health Organisation estimates that over 880,000 people died from malaria in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available.
Around 85% of those who die from malaria are children.
Most people affected by malaria live in sub-Saharan Africa, but by 2006 it was identified as being present in over 109 countries and territories.
Along with tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, malaria has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the priority diseases for drug research and development.
Causes
Malaria is caused by parasites of the Plasmodium species which can be spread to people if they are bitten by mosquitoes carrying the parasites. Equally, mosquitoes can pick up the parasites by biting someone who is already infected.
There are four types of malaria that affect humans, of which Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the most common. Plasmodium falciparum is the most deadly.
Medicines have been developed that treat malaria successfully, but over time the malaria parasites have evolved to become resistant to some of these medicines, and the treatments are therefore becoming less effective. This becomes an acute problem if drug resistance at a local level spreads to wider areas, and means that tackling malaria and drug resistance are both major health challenges.
Over 3 billion people live in areas where they are at risk of malaria.
Every year there are estimated to be 247 million cases of
malaria 
Our goals
Through our malaria research in Spain, we are aiming to deliver new treatments for uncomplicated malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum, including strains that have become resistant to common existing treatments. By treating those who are already infected, even if their own symptoms are relatively mild, we can break the cycle of infection passing back and forth between humans and mosquitoes.
Our goal is to develop an anti-malarial medicine that is effective, well tolerated, available by mouth (ie as a pill) and fast acting so that a treatment course would last no more than three days. It must also be accessible to the target population, which means that it must be affordable.
Through other parts of GlaxoSmithKline we are also leading the way in developing a vaccine against malaria and provide education on malaria and support in the battle against the disease in many African countries.
Our collaborative research
Our collaborative research on malaria started in 2000 with a project with the not-for-profit organisation MMV, along with key groups from world-leading universities. This project, which moved to our facility in Spain in 2002, was set up to identify new inhibitors of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of Plasmodium falciparum.
In 2003, GSK and MMV signed a new agreement for the development of a ‘mini portfolio’ of four research projects, with the objective of identifying drug candidates that could be developed clinically.
Project successes
Since 2004, projects in partnership with GSK, MMV and academic institutions have identified a number of candidates for clinical development, which are at different stages of development. At the same time, our project teams in Spain are using a variety of methods to test GSK’s collection of products for any that show potential as anti-malarial drugs.
Product pipeline
Building the best product pipeline in the industry
Find out more about our pipeline