IVCC is to receive new funding of £25million from UKAID for its work developing new anti-malarial insecticides. The announcement was made by the Secretary of State for International Development, The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, at the launch of the WHO World Malaria Report 2016 in London.

‘We are here to celebrate the continuing progress in the battle against malaria, and the leadership role the UK is playing as part of the global effort,’ she said. ‘But progress is now overshadowed by the big issue of drug resistance and insecticide resistance. So it is imperative that the world continues to affirm its commitment to tackling malaria today, and to meeting that critical target agreed last year, of reducing the malaria burden by a further 90% by 2030.’

‘The UK has been at the forefront of the fight against malaria for many years, but we must keep up the momentum. Long lasting insecticide treated nets and indoor residual spraying of homes have had a major impact in the fight against malaria. With our support, IVCC are on track to deliver three new active ingredients to the market by 2022.’

Thanking UKAID, IVCC CEO, Dr Nick Hamon said, ‘This is absolutely wonderful news. This grant will result in significant impact through the creation of a toolbox of novel vector solutions. We thank the staff at UKAID for their outstanding support over the past three years and look forward to working with them over the next four years and beyond. IVCC has a very strong pipeline of potential products, with one new product in particular (Actellic CS), co-developed with Syngenta, saving lives and having a significant impact in Africa’.

Read the full speech of the Secretary of State here

IVCC would be nothing without our industrial partners.

We have a great mission— to save lives by preventing malaria with repurposed or new classes of insecticides that kill the mosquitoes that transmit malaria.

Since 2005 we’ve worked with a great cloud of scientists, researching millions of chemical compounds to find the best ones to stop malaria. We’ve helped apply the best minds in chemistry, reformulations, and all kinds of other scientific magic that I know little about.

Except that it works, and it is working, and we’re nearly there with the new active ingredients that will transform malaria vector control. Yes, and save lives. Millions of lives. Young children and pregnant women will no longer die from this preventable disease.

So, it’s very appropriate on World Malaria Day, to say thank you to all IVCC’s industrial partners. That includes scientists at BASF, Bayer, Sumitomo, Syngenta and Mitsui. We couldn’t do it without your quiet, selfless dedication to solve a critical and global public health crisis. In the battle against malaria I think you are truly heroes.

Thank you for everything you do. You are truly making the world a better place.

Watch the film Heroic Chemistry 

Nick Hamon, CEO of IVCC said: “Field trial partners in Africa play an essential role in the testing of novel vector control products being developed and one of the most important elements of the field trial is the quality of the data generated, as this is the key to establishing the true nature of the products being tested.”

Since 2000, IVCC, in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, has been working to strengthen the quality and reliability of data generated by African vector control field trial sites.  This work has included the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the auditing of facilities, and follow-up Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) training workshops.

An important element of IVCC’s GLP rollout programme has also been its funding of infrastructure improvements including buildings and equipment at its collaborating trial sites.  This capacity building is establishing a network of facilities in Africa that can generate testing data on vector control products of the highest standard.

Professor Franklin Mosha, Test Facility Manager for the KCMUCo facility said: “Reaching this important milestone is a major achievement for IVCC and KCMUCo, and credit is due to all of the staff in Moshi who have implemented enormous changes in relation to their facilities, working practices and culture over a relatively short but intense period of time.”

Nick Hamon, CEO of IVCC added: “A future network of GLP certified trials sites across Africa will allow manufacturers of vector control products to generate their own efficacy data for inclusion in their product dossiers submitted to the WHO product evaluation process. This represents a major step forward for vector control product testing, which will be of major importance in delivering the IVCC mission and malaria elimination in the future.”

Six further IVCC collaborating trials sites are now planning their GLP studies and will be submitting their applications for OECD GLP certification through SANAS.

Notes to journalist

IVCC

IVCC is a non-profit public-private partnership, which aims to save lives, protect health, and increase prosperity in areas where disease transmitted by insects is endemic. It brings together the best minds to develop new solutions to prevent disease transmission. By focusing resources and targeting practical scientific solutions, it accelerates the process from innovation to impact.  IVCC has several novel public health insecticide active ingredients at the point of final development, for delivery in about 2022.  Although primarily targeted at malaria vectors, these insecticides will have application to other NTDs.  IVCC is also currently exploring control of mosquitoes that transmit outdoors and during the day.

The Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) is delighted to announce that, resulting from a collaboration with BASF and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, a new type of Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLIN) has received a recommendation for use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This new LLIN, Interceptor® G2, combines the current pyrethroid class of public health insecticide used in bednets across malaria endemic countries, with a repurposed insecticide from agriculture called Chlorfenapyr.  The successful mixture of these two active ingredients coated on a LLIN represents a major advance in the mission to overcome insecticide resistance.  Chlorfenapyr has a different mode of action from current WHO recommended public health insecticides.

Liverpool based IVCC played an instrumental part in bringing this product to the recommendation stage, supporting and funding the project during the field trials and, as project partner, leading the technical progress of the project through its External Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC).

Nick Hamon, CEO of IVCC said: “Interceptor® G2 is a major step forward in the battle against mosquito insecticide resistance.  We hope and expect this to be the first of several novel vector control products IVCC will support bringing to market in the coming years to help eradicate malaria”.

“Developing new vector control tools would not be possible without the dedication of our industry partners and the visionary support of our funders.  Without the financial backing of organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UKaid, the complex development, testing and evidence gathering exercises needed to support novel vector control products would simply not be possible.  They, along with BASF, deserve immense credit.”

Dave Malone, Technical Manager at IVCC added; “The growing intensity and distribution of resistance to pyrethroids threatens to undermine the great progress that has been made against malaria by the use of LLINs, particularly in sub-Saharan African where 90 per cent of malaria deaths occur.  By combining pyrethroids with a new class of chemistry, these new LLINs have the potential to protect and save many more lives.”

Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC are proud to announce that Sumishield® 50WG has been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO).   With a brand-new mode of action chemistry for indoor residual spraying (IRS), Sumishield® 50WG represents a significant breakthrough, providing a new tool to allow program managers to rotate between chemistries and be better equipped to manage resistance.

IVCC supported Sumitomo Chemical by providing scientific advice, laboratory support as well as leading rigorous field trials to prove Sumishield® 50WG’s efficacy.

Dr. Nick Hamon, Chief Executive Officer at Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), said: “Mosquito resistance to current insecticides is threatening the huge gains made so far in reducing deaths from malaria, so we desperately need effective chemistry with modes of action new to public health to combat these resistant mosquitoes, and enable rotation with other products.  News that Sumishield® 50WG has recently obtained a WHO PQ listing is therefore very welcome and will prove to be a very valuable tool in the vector control toolbox.”

“IVCC and its partners on the Unitaid-funded NgenIRS project are looking forward to adding this new third generation indoor residual spray (3GIRS) to the toolbox of insecticides that can be supported through the established reduced pricing mechanism.  This will give African malaria programs a second affordable long-lasting insecticide to be used in rotation for resistance management.”

With a single mode of action chemistry based on the neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin, Sumishield 50WG gives malaria prevention programs greater flexibility when rotating with other chemistries. The formulation has proven efficacy under WHO supervised trials and continues to work effectively for up to nine months after spraying, even against highly resistant mosquitoes.

Due to a non-repellent formula, mosquitoes are exposed to SumiShield 50WG for longer, increasing mortality and reducing the chances of resistance developing. The odourless spray also has very low mammalian toxicity, doesn’t cause irritation through skin contact and won’t stain walls, which creates better acceptance by householders.

WHO figures show that nearly half the world’s population is at risk of malaria and despite great gains madea drop in both incidence and mortality rates in recent years, there are over 200 million new cases every year. Increased prevention and control measures have led to significant gains, but these are under threat due to insecticide resistance, which affects 75% of countries with ongoing transmission of the disease. Rotating insecticides is one of the key strategies for avoiding resistance, however nearly 87% of affected countries are failing to do this, largely due to a lack of alternative chemistries to choose from.

For further information on the WHO Prequalification of SumiShield, visit : http://www.who.int/entity/pq-vector-control/prequalified-lists/sumishield50wg/en/index.html