IVCC is delighted to confirm that the Australian Government, has awarded IVCC a five-year, 17 million Australian dollar grant to advance the control of malaria in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and other Indo-Pacific countries.

Funded through the Australian Government’s Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, IVCC will continue the expansion of a vector control toolbox tailored to regional contexts which will better equip countries to prevent, control and work towards eliminating malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

The new grant which runs until January 2029, builds upon the programme of work IVCC initiated in 2018 under its first grant.  The workstreams developed under the new grant will support capacity-strengthening for the evaluation and adoption of new vector control tools in PNG and the further evaluation and uptake of spatial emanators in the Greater Mekong Subregion.  As a new area of focus, IVCC will also support improving the tools and approaches available for the control on Aedes-borne diseases in the region, including dengue and chikungunya.

Under its first grant, IVCC worked with its partners to demonstrate the efficacy of bite prevention tools deployed to forest-exposed populations in Cambodia at risk of malaria. In PNG, national capacity to evaluate and scale-up novel vector control tools was strengthened by developing new entomological facilities, a range of new product trials and establishing a national-led stakeholder network.

IVCC CEO, Justin McBeath said: “We are extremely grateful to the Australian Government for again entrusting IVCC to undertake this important vector control work across Papua New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific region.  In delivering our objectives, IVCC will work with local partners to support capacity development to ensure that local benefits are realised from the project and that the focus areas of the activities address the issues that are important to local communities and the region.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong said: “We cannot have the peaceful stable and prosperous region we want without improving the health and well-being of our region’s communities.  As close neighbours, friends and equals, Australia will continue to work with Papua New Guinea and Indo-Pacific partners to meet current and future health challenges.”

Image credit: Graham Small / IVCC

During British Science Week (8th to 17th March, 2024), IVCC proudly participated in a UK parliamentary reception, showcasing the groundbreaking New Nets Project (NNP).

Hosted by STOPAIDS, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on HIV & AIDS, the APPG for life sciences, and the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, the event celebrated the crucial role of UK-based science and innovation in advancing progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The evening spotlighted collaborative efforts between UK-led research and innovation institutions, and multilateral institutions, such as Unitaid, in accelerating global health responses through innovative new health products. Tenu Avafia, Deputy Director of Unitaid, spoke of the interconnected roles of Unitaid and The Global Fund in global health responses. The NNP, led by IVCC and funded by Unitaid and The Global Fund, piloted the use of new dual-insecticide nets in areas of moderate to high malaria transmission throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The project underscores the importance of product development and catalytic market-shaping interventions to deliver and scale up high-impact, cost-effective prevention tools that meet the needs of endemic countries.

While addressing the audience, Shadow Minister for Science, Research, and Innovation, Chi Onwurah, emphasized the pivotal role of partnerships in fostering innovation. The success and profound impact of the NNP are largely attributed to a geographically diverse consortium of partners. Their collaborative efforts encompassed trials, pilot studies, cost-effectiveness research, impact modelling, and implementation endeavours.

Chi also called for a commitment from governments to long-term stable funding, vital to deliver on global health goals.

Download the New Nets Project poster presented at the reception here.

L to R: Tenu Avafia (Deputy Director of Unitaid), Laura Roberts (IVCC Communications Manager) and Justin McBeath (IVCC CEO). Image Credit: Martha Varney / Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases APPG.

Our Africa Regional Coordinator, Andrew Saibu, contributed an editorial in the latest edition of the South African Pest Control Association’s (SAPCA), Pest News.

In the piece, Andrew makes the case for the role of the private sector, and mining companies in particular, in supporting malaria control throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

The Pest News February 2024* instalment is available via this download. Andrew’s editorial is available from page nine onward: Mines against malaria.

*with thanks to SAPCA.

IVCC was delighted to welcome a delegation from the Labour Party, including Kim Johnson MP, Paula Barker MP, and Dr Zubir Ahmed a Labour PPC to Liverpool to meet representatives from IVCC and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).

Accompanied by Astrid Bonfield, CEO of Malaria No More UK and Anyika Onuora, Olympic athlete and Malaria No More UK ambassador and staff from both LSTM and IVCC, the Labour Party delegation heard about the innovative vector control pipeline that IVCC is developing. For example, the impact of IVCC’s long held strategic aim to bring new active ingredients (AIs) to the insecticide-treated net (ITN) market was highlighted by the evidence and policy endorsement of BASF’s Interceptor® G2.

The group also heard about evidence developed on the efficacy of outdoor tools by Project Bite Interruption Toward Elimination (BITE) and Newly Adapted Tools Network Against vector-borne disease Transmission (NATNAT) has enhanced the evidence base for these new product categories, through the Indo-Pacific Initiative (IPI.

These, and other success storied, showcased the importance of collaborative working and how the commitment of our partners from industry, academia, the public sector, and advocacy, make life-saving vector control possible.

The guests also visited the Liverpool Insect Testing Establishment (LITE) which supports the testing of insecticide-based products for commercial partners against insecticide-resistant colonies.  LITE maintains a range of insecticide susceptible and resistant colonies of mosquitoes and provides a range of approaches for insecticide efficacy testing. The guests closed the day with a visit to LSTM’s venom unit which houses the largest and most diverse collection of tropical venomous snakes in the UK and leads pioneering research into a universal anti-venom and improvements in the efficacy, affordability and safety of snakebite treatments.

Photo caption: The delegation poses at the entrance of the LSTM buildings.

From left to right: David Lalloo (LSTM Director), Paula Barker MP, Dr Zubir Ahmed, Astrid Bonfield (Malaria No More UK CEO), Anyika Onuora, Professor Martin James Donnelly (Head of Vector Biology Department, LSTM), Justin McBeath (IVCC CEO) and Kim Johnson MP.

Credit: LSTM/ Alejandra Cardona-Mayorga

The Vector Expedited Review Voucher Program offers registrants of vector control tools a financial incentive, a voucher, in reward for registration of novel public health insecticides that can combat vectors of malaria and other diseases.

In a major step forward for vector-borne disease control, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the establishment of the regulation for a Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) Program. The notice, issued on Thursday 18^th of December 2023, includes the eligibility criteria and processes regarding how to apply and qualify for a voucher under the VERV Program.

The VERV rewards the registrant of a new public health insecticide with a voucher to receive an expedited registration review of a second, potentially more profitable product. Getting the second product to market faster generates value for the manufacturer which helps mitigate the investment costs typical in public health insecticide development. A registrant can also sell the awarded voucher.

Justin McBeath, CEO of IVCC and advocate for establishment of the VERV program said: “The Vector Expedited Review Voucher is a significant step forward. Keeping industry engaged in the discovery and development of new technologies to combat vectors of malaria and neglected tropical diseases is essential. IVCC welcomes the publication of VERV eligibility criteria, which brings clear guidance for industry partners and stakeholders wanting to benefit from this incentive. The Program, as explained with the newly issued EPA guidance, will provide an additional financial incentive for public health insecticide development, and help to sustain product innovation into the future.”

The establishment of the program has been championed by IVCC following a policy proposal by Duke University. It was signed into US Law in December 2022. IVCC and Duke University began work on VERV in 2015.

VERV is modelled on the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Priority Review Voucher program legislated in 2007 (Sec. 524 FDA Amendments Act), which offers a priority review of a second pharmaceutical product as a reward for new treatments targeting selected diseases.

Jeffrey Moe, Adjunct Faculty of the Duke Global Health Institute, a co-author along with other Duke faculty proposing the PRV programme and the new VERV added: “PRV has had a positive impact on the development of treatments with limited profitability for neglected tropical diseases. The VERV programme can, like PRV, stimulate the development of innovative vector control solutions to help us better control, and hopefully eradicate, diseases such as malaria.”

IVCC, Duke University and stakeholders will continue to work with the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as it implements the VERV programme to stimulate investment in new public health insecticides and products for the control of vector-borne diseases.

–ends–

For further information contact:

Chris Larkin, Director of Communications and Operations

Christopher.larkin@ivcc.com

+44 (0)7712 402498

Note to editors:

Further details about the Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) are available at:

www.ivcc.com/vector-control/vector-expedited-review-voucher-verv/

www.vectorvoucher.info