Reports in Time magazine today (Jan 13, 2015) about Insecticide Resistance in Mali shouldn’t really come under the heading of news. We’ve known about insecticide resistance in mosquitoes for a long time. In fact, that’s one of the reasons IVCC was set up in 2005—to develop new and effective vector control tools to challenge insecticide resistance.

But what is more serious is the comment in the article that resistance has ‘reached a level at some localities in Africa where it is resulting in the failure of the nets to provide meaningful control’. This is not only inaccurate, it is positively harmful.  Even if insecticides on bednets shows limited efficacy in some cases, the physical barrier of the bednet still provides a meaningful level of protection—over 50% according to WHO.  The article also fails to point out that the impact of growing insecticide resistance is not yet fully understood, nor is it distributed evenly across sub-Saharan Africa.

Long-lasting Insecticidal Treated bednets (LLINs), and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) have been remarkably successful over the past 15 years in reducing deaths and sickness from malaria across sub-Saharan Africa. In the World Malaria report 2015, the WHO reports that malaria mortality rates have decreased by 54% in the region during this period and that 44% of the population at risk is now sleeping under a LLIN. They estimate that 670 million fewer case and 4.3 million fewer malaria deaths occurred between 2001 and 2013 than would have occurred if incidence and mortality rates had remained unchanged.

Undoubtedly, some of this is due to better drug therapies and more effective diagnostics and health systems and that is also good news. But a large portion of it is also down to effective protection of the people at risk, especially the most vulnerable groups of pregnant women and young children. There is substantial evidence that LLINs and IRS have been remarkably efficient. The massive distribution of bednets has been a major lifesaver.

Ironically, the success of bednets and IRS one of the reasons why resistance has been developing. It’s a natural response from an insect population under stress. (See our video ‘The Tipping Point’) And it’s why we’re developing new anti-malarial insecticides that are safe for people and the environment that could bring to an end this never ceasing circle of solution-resistance-solution. (See our video ‘Why 3 new Ais’)

Working with the world’s leading agro-chemical companies, and top scientific experts in entomology and chemistry, we have already isolated 9 new chemical classes of anti-malarial insecticide with completely new (and different from each other)  modes of action. This year we will select 3 of these to go into full development. If funding is adequate and the extensive regulatory processes are passed, these new insecticides will be in operation in the field by 2022.

In the meantime we have developed new formulations of existing insecticides for IRS, and have some novel approaches to bednets that are currently undergoing evaluation.

Time reports scientists are urging ‘the development of new and effective malaria vector control strategies’. Right, we’re on the case and the finishing line is in sight.

IVCC will shortly be moving to new offices within the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). The Wolfson Building is a £7 million project which will also house the Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health, and the Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease.

IVCC staff and partners were present when the building weas opened by LSTM’s Patron, HRH The Princess Royal.

During the opening ceremony Her Royal Highness was treated to a short presentation about the work of the IVCC and the other groups housed in the Wolfson Building.  She then was introduced to IVCC staff and some of its partners and funders.

IVCC CEO, Nick Hamon said this was a significant development in the growth of IVCC. ‘This move to purpose built new offices is coming at a significant time when IVCC is at the point of entering the development phase of three new anti-malarial insecticides and beginning to seriously consider how to tackle outdoor biting insects. The move will improve our facilities and facilitate future growth,’ he said.

In the photograph Her Royal Highness is being presented to Egon Weinmuller of BASF and Sue Kinn of the Department of International Development (DfID).

The Chairman of IVCC’s Expert Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC 1), Professor John Pickett,has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.  He was chosen in recognition of his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

As well as fulfilling the role of Michael Elliott Distinguished Research Fellow and Scientific Leader of Chemical Ecology, at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, John continues to lead research into Chemical Ecology and is still very much personally involved with day-to-day research activities in the UK and around the world. He has over 480 publications and patents.

John’s contributions to the field of chemical ecology have been acknowledged with the 1995 Rank Prize for Nutrition and Crop Husbandry, election to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1996, International Society of Chemical Ecology Medal 2002, appointment to CBE for services to Biological Chemistry in 2004, and the Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture in 2008, among many other international measures of esteem.  He also presented, in 2008, the Royal Society’s premier lecture in the biological sciences, The Croonian Prize Lecture, the Cornell University Lecture in 2009 and the Keck Center Distinguished Seminar in 2013.  He was awarded the International Congress of Entomology Certificate of Distinction, presented at the XXIV International Congress of Entomology in Daegu, Korea in 2012.

In June 2014 he will take over as President-Elect of the Royal Entomological Society.

The UK has played a significant role globally in the fight against malaria, according to a new report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected tropical Diseases (APPMG).

Launching the report in the House of Commons, Former Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, praised the UK for helping drive the remarkable progress in preventing malaria, which has halved child deaths from the disease since 2000. He went on, however, to stress the importance of maintaining support, investment and innovation in the struggle against malaria, noting that resurgence is a very real threat.

According to the report, ‘the recent dramatic improvements in malaria control give no cause for complacency: history has repeatedly shown that when efforts and funds to control malaria are relaxed, it comes roaring back. Reducing malaria control efforts at this point risks failing to capitalise on the strategic advantage we are developing – jeopardising millions of lives and billions of dollars’.

The report suggests that the  next five years will be particularly critical in malaria prevention as innovative approaches to developing new insecticides, drugs and vaccines show healthy pipelines of potential new products. ‘We are now at a tipping point in the fight against this disease: sustained investment will drive down the number of malaria cases and deaths still further’.

Insecticide resistance is highlighted as a growing threat especially as  ‘the corner stone of prevention is vector control’.

The economic return on malaria investment is also highlighted in the report, which suggests a net economic return on malaria investment of over $200 billion by 2035. ‘Healthier communities will be more economically productive, and educational outcomes will be enhanced.’

Download the full report by following the link on this page.

IVCC is pleased to welcome Lois Rossi to its team. Lois was formerly Director of the Registration Division in the Office of Pesticide Programs of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  She will work with IVCC and its partners to navigate an efficient and effective path through the regulatory process, getting novel life-saving vector control solutions to market as soon as possible.

In a career at the EPA spanning 37 years, Lois Rossi was responsible not only for the registration of all conventional pesticides but also for the re-evaluation of approximately 400 active ingredients. Since 2004, she served on the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) and was a member of the US delegation to the OECD Working Group on Pesticides and the Registration Steering group. In 2003 she served on the staff of the Plant Health Section within the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs, European Commission.

Lois has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Science degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Georgetown University.  She is a native of Rhode Island.

Welcoming Lois to IVCC, CEO Nick Hamon said, ‘We are delighted to have Lois join the IVCC team at a time when we are focused on selecting novel anti-malarial chemistries for full development. Her valuable experience and understanding of the importance of a robust, equitable and efficient registration system will be of great help in making innovative new public health tools available to those who need them most in the shortest possible time.’

Lois Rossi said ‘I am delighted to be working with IVCC and its partners, applying my knowledge and experience to providing chemical tools that can save lives and contribute towards making the vision of a world without malaria a reality’.

As well as working with IVCC, Lois will be pursuing a number of other projects that will enable her to put her wide experience in environmental protection to good use.