IVCC staff had the opportunity to attend this week’s UNGA and participated in several important meetings with various stakeholders to discuss the role of vector control in efforts to eliminate malaria. David McGuire, Director of Access and Country engagement participated in a Summit of the Future panel discussion: From Concepts to Communities: Innovations in Action along with representatives from ALMA, RBM and Unitaid. The session explored how a group of partners collaborated to develop, launch and scale-up dual-AI ITNs under the New Nets Project and the Net Transition Initiative. Participants shared lessons learned and how they might be applied to accelerate access to other innovative health products.

David also attended a session co-hosted by United to Beat Malaria and RBM, Next Chapter of Progress: Localization, Innovation and Partnerships to End Malaria. A panel that included senior representatives from ALMA, the Gates Foundation (IVCC BoT member, Philip Welkhoff), PMI, SC Johnson and the Global Fund discussed promising innovations in vector control, treatments and vaccines, and acknowledged the importance of increased domestic and multi-sector investment in locally led research and implementation. Panelists talked about their optimism that a tool-box capable of achieving elimination is on the horizon, and the need for the political will and funding to translate innovation into sustained impact.

Christen Fornadel, Senior Technical Coordinator, attended an important meeting hosted by Malaria No More, RBM and MMV, Racing Against Antimalarial Resistance: Driving Global Action to Support National Response Efforts. There is a growing recognition and effort among partners to improve coordination and integrated approaches that simultaneously address resistance to drugs and insecticides, including market shaping efforts to address the increased costs of new products.

IVCC is encouraged that the challenges, opportunities and critical success factors that have been identified within our new strategy are all prominent and recurring topics that are repeatedly raised by participants from countries, funders, civil society, academia and the private sector.

IVCC’s Board of Trustees Chair, Sherwin Charles and Board member, Elizabeth Chizema are also attending UNGA 2024.

IVCC is pleased to confirm that it is the recipient of a new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  This new grant of $85 million over 5 years is the largest ever investment in IVCC by the foundation.  With this key funding milestone, alongside support from other funding partners, IVCC will be able to sustain and create new partnerships to continue to deliver an ambitious pipeline of innovative vector control products in line with its renewed strategy.

Through the continuous support of its funding partners, like the foundation, and in partnerships with industry, IVCC has supported the delivery of a suite of innovative vector control tools, including next generation indoor residual sprays and dual-active ingredient bed nets which have proven to be the cornerstone of malaria eradication efforts since the turn of the century.

For the effectiveness of these tools to be maintained over the long term, additional modes of action need to become available so that the challenge of insecticide resistance can be better managed, and the longevity of these products maximised.  This funding will also support IVCC’s strategy to further expand the vector control toolbox; identifying, developing and bringing to market alternative tools to address other technical gaps in mosquito borne disease transmission.

Protecting these new tools against the threat of resistance and expanding the vector control toolbox will provide national malaria control programmes with a choice of effective vector control options to further advance the elimination of malaria in their respective countries.

Justin McBeath, CEO of IVCC said: “I would like to thank the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the trust placed in IVCC to deliver on our strategic goals and in recognising our new strategic focus. It reflects a shared vision of the critical need for innovation in vector control to address the spread of insecticide resistance and an expanded toolbox of interventions.  With this support, we are optimistic that urgently needed new modes of action can be developed and delivered to improve and save the lives of those affected by malaria.”

For further information, please contact:

Chris Larkin, Director of Communications and Operations, IVCC
Email: Christopher.larkin@ivcc.com
Tel: 07712 402498

We’re very excited to announce that the Insecticide Testing Facility at the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé/Direction Régionale de l’Ouest (IRSS/DRO) in Burkina Faso has become the seventh IVCC partner in Africa to achieve Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) certification. This milestone, certified by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS), marks a significant achievement for the facility, led by Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté.

As a long-standing research partner of IVCC, the IRSS/DRO facility has played a crucial role in evaluating novel and repurposed insecticides and new malaria vector control products. Their work, particularly against highly insecticide-resistant mosquito populations in the Vallée du Kou, has been instrumental in generating essential efficacy data for manufacturers, including submissions to the WHO Prequalification Unit Vector Control Product Assessment Team (PQT/VCP). Since 2016, IVCC has supported the IRSS/DRO facility in its journey to full GLP compliance. This support included funding essential infrastructure improvements, purchasing necessary equipment, and providing targeted training for key staff. These efforts have developed strong GLP awareness and ensured the facility’s compliance with OECD principles. After 8 years of hard work, IVCC is happy to join with the Insecticide Testing Facility of IRSS/DRO in celebrating their success.

Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté commented: “This tremendous achievement by the team will be key for the visibility of the IRSS/DRO Insecticide Testing Facility both within Burkina Faso and internationally. The GLP certification of the facility will help to increase the confidence that companies, malaria control programmes and other organisations have in our research. We anticipate an increase in demand for the IRSS/DRO Insecticide Testing Facility to carry out laboratory and field trials as part of the fight against malaria and neglected tropical diseases. The institute has built a very strong working relationship with different communities in the field where conditions are ideal for the conduct of experimental hut and community trials. The data we generate are also used to inform and orient the decisions made by the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene towards malaria elimination”.

IVCC is pleased to announce the establishment of a partnership agreement with V.K.A Polymers to assess whether two existing insecticides can be repurposed and optimised for use on insecticide-treated nets (ITNs); meeting the required efficacy, safety, quality and economic thresholds. The two chemistries, which have already shown some promise during early laboratory and semi-field testing, could ultimately become new modes of action to support country malaria elimination programmes.

The continued effectiveness of ITNs is under threat due to the spread of resistance in vector populations across sub-Saharan Africa to the insecticides currently used on ITNs. There is therefore an urgent need for new modes of action to be developed and introduced onto ITNs. Protecting these new tools against the threat of resistance is crucial to ensure that national malaria control programmes have access to a variety of effective vector control options to advance their malaria elimination targets.

Justin Mc Beath, CEO of IVCC said: “IVCC has a long and successful history of working with industry partners to repurpose chemistries for vector control tools, including ITNs or indoor residual spraying (IRS). Recent advances in the development of dual-active ingredient nets using repurposed chemistries have, for example, demonstrated that ITN effectiveness can be increased by up to 50%. However, for ITN effectiveness to be maintained over the long term, a range of alternative and additional modes of action need to become available so that the challenge of insecticide resistance can be better managed, and the longevity of these products maximised.

“We are delighted to sign this agreement with V.K.A Polymers to enable us to move forward in the further evaluation of these chemistries. Together with the IVCC novel active ingredient discovery programme, this repurposed chemistry project should help advance the delivery of a suite of vector control innovations which, together with innovations in drugs and vaccines, could help us one day eradicate malaria for good.”

Satish Kumar of VKA Polymers said: “The entire VKA family is excited and honoured at being selected to partner IVCC for this important project. We are fully committed to bringing all our resources, experiences, innovations and capacity into this joint effort to build a platform for next generation ITNs with IVCC.”

For further information, please contact:

IVCC: Chris Larkin, Director of Communications and Operations
Christopher.larkin@ivcc.com or 07712 402498

V.K.A Polymers: Satish Kumar, Head of Emerging Business.
satish@vkapolymers.com

About IVCC
IVCC is the only Product Development Partnership (PDP) focused on solutions for vector control. IVCC was established in 2005, through an initial grant to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a registered charity in the UK, IVCC receives grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Aid, USAID, The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to partner with different stakeholders across industry, scientific institutions and endemic countries to facilitate the development and availability of novel and improved public health insecticides and formulations which can combat the rapidly growing problem of insecticide resistance. In addition, IVCC has received funding from Unitaid and the Global Fund to implement catalytic market access projects, such as NgenIRS and the New Nets Project which support the rapid and scaled deployment of vector control tools. IVCC has three core values of partnership, innovation and respect, and strives to live these values in our dealings with all partners.

About V.K.A Polymers
V.K.A. Polymers Private Limited specializes in manufacturing HDPE monofilament mosquito nets for more than 40 years (started as Anand Plastics in 1975). Backed by their vast experience and research & development in the field V.K.A. started manufacturing long lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) from 2009. MAGNet® and VEERALIN® are V.K.A.’s registered trademark of high performance LLINs. V.K.A. Polymers are certified with ISO 9001:2015, IS0 14001:2015 and ISO 45001: 2018

Our vision is to introduce innovation in our production processes and develop the most affordable products to help in preventing the spread of vectoral diseases. A team of dedicated, experienced, well-qualified staff supports our research and commercial activities, where our products’ prime importance is controlling malaria. Ever since the establishment of the company our LLIN products have been playing an important role in the reduction and control of malaria throughout the world. VKA works closely with major NGO’s, and various Ministries of Health worldwide.

On June 19, 2024, members of the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) team were warmly welcomed by the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) at its Bagamoyo branch office in Kingani. The visit included the unveiling of a commemorative plaque celebrating the ‘Accelerate to Eliminate Malaria Program’, a five-year collaborative agreement funded by USAID, at the Bagamoyo facility.

The Vector Control Product Testing Unit (VCPTU), a critical research facility within IHI, is internationally recognized for its high-quality evaluations of new vector control products. The site plays a vital role in vector control product testing for industry and regulatory bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) Prequalification, as well as extensive collaborations with academia.

During the visit, Dr. Ally Olotu, Director of Science at Ifakara, along with Jason Moore, Test Facility Manager, and the VCPTU team, warmly received the IVCC delegation. The event marked both advancements in infrastructure and the collaborative spirit that propels progress in vector control research. It included presentations by the IHI VCPTU team on projects supported by IVCC, alongside discussions on safeguarding standards, equity, diversity, and gender policies.

IVCC’s collaboration with IHI and VCPTU is long-standing, both on infrastructure and capacity building initiatives, in addition to research collaborations. IVCC has previously supported IHI towards GLP certification with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. By assisting institutions like IHI secure Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) certification, IVCC ensures that local research facilities can meet international standards, thereby enhancing their ability to conduct critical research and testing. This support not only advances scientific capabilities but also empowers local communities to take a leading role in combating vector-borne diseases.

During the visit, Dr. Small expressed optimism about future collaborations, stating, “Driven by values of partnership, innovation, and respect, IVCC is committed to building lasting partnerships that deliver life-saving solutions. Our partnership with IHI demonstrates the significant impact we can achieve together.”

Dr. Olotu also acknowledged IVCC’s invaluable support, emphasizing the importance of the funding for IHI’s ongoing product testing activities at the Vector Control Product Testing Unit. This collaboration continues to drive forward our shared mission to eliminate malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

This visit to IHI  by the IVCC delegation was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this story are the responsibility of IVCC and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.