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EU Malaria Fund enters post-investment period

September 30, 2021 in Berlin


Today the EU Malaria Fund (EUMF) concluded its investment activities at a high-level online event by finalizing its investments into four innovative companies active in malaria R&D. The EUMF has successfully expanded the pipeline of malaria R&D by funding nine promising and innovative malaria projects, covering treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics. 
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the game and led to the deployment of four EMA-approved, safe, and effective vaccines within less than 12 months. With this novel need to develop a large project on a now proven technology platform, the EUMF has successfully accomplished its mission earlier than expected. The EUMF will now enter its post-investment period.

The EUMF is grateful to the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the major contributors to the Fund through the InnovFin EU programme funded by EU Horizon 2020 and the European Fund of Strategic Investments. 

Other investors and supporters include the Investitionsbank Berlin, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Fondazione Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, Jacques und Gloria Gossweiler Stiftung, Invethos AG, FINDdx, and Novartis AG. The fund was initiated by kENUP Foundation in cooperation with EIB and is managed by IBB Group Berlin.
The investments would not have been possible without the excellent work of the Funds Scientific Advisory Council and the Investment Decision Committee. 

On July 26,2021 BioNTech SE announced the start of its Malaria project which aims at the development of a safe and highly effective malaria vaccine and the implementation of sustainable vaccine supply solutions on the African continent. The program was initiated by kENUP Foundation. Additional such programmes are currently being conceived and could cover other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV.


Pedro Alonso, Director of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Programme, states: “The EU Malaria Fund is a great example how innovative new instruments can ultimately lead to impact. Malaria is the biggest killer of mankind. It affects the poorest and contributes to keeping them in poverty. I would like to thank everyone involved in the EU Malaria Fund project for their contribution to fighting malaria.”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth: “Malaria is one of the most challenging diseases to beat and all efforts to find new vaccines or preventive means are important. For decades the European Union’s research and innovation programmes provided support to contribute to the global research agenda for malaria and we are committed to continue these efforts.“

Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank: “Malaria kills more than 1000 people each day – most of them children. Every step in the fight against the disease is welcome and much needed. Thanks to the successful work of the EU Malaria Fund, which financed nine promising projects, we significantly increased our chances to find new medications, diagnostics and vaccines. I am proud that the EIB is part of this effort.”

Angeliki Krisilion, Member of the Management Board of Investitionsbank Berlin and Chair of the Supervisory Board of EMM EU Malaria Fund Berlin Managementgesellschaft mbH: “Berlin is an important hub for medical science in Europe. IBB Group has done groundbreaking work in the fight against malaria with the EU Malaria Fund by providing financial support to companies developing products to fight malaria. We are grateful to the team of the EU Malaria Fund for adding concrete and impactful measures empowering the fight against malaria.”

Torsten Harr, Co-Managing Director of EMM and Head of IBB Corporate Investments of IBB on behalf of IBB Group: “As IBB Group, we are proud to be asked by the stakeholders of the EU Malaria Fund to support them in establishing the Fund and providing the relevant financial services. Together with our partner European Investment Bank (EIB) and with the support of our lawyers from Dentons Europe LLP we were able to build up a unique legal framework to ensure the professional administration of this venture loan business in favour of the companies. I am absolutely convinced that the EUMF was a further step forward to strengthen Berlin as a relevant hub for global life science business.”

Stefan Sonnenberg, Co-Managing Director of EMM: “I’m grateful to have the chance to lead the EUMF Team as Managing Director. We really can be proud about the fact that we found individual financing solutions for portfolio companies with an overall volume of about €44 million. This is a relevant contribution in the fight against malaria and other diseases and therefore an excellent example for real Social Impact Investment. I wish all our EUMF portfolio companies the greatest possible success! I’m sure, mankind will be able to win all fights against diseases based on the technological progress like mRNA technology. There is a lot of room for improvement, but fortunately some really great examples are on the horizon like the new initiative eradicateMalaria.”

Holm Keller, Executive Chairman of kENUP Foundation and Initiator of the EU Malaria Fund: “It is encouraging to see that the malaria research and development pipeline, contrary to the historical trend, is filling up. We are grateful to the EU Malaria Fund, the portfolio companies, investors, the Scientific Advisory Council, and the Investment Decision Committee for their contribution. With the momentum created by the EUMF, we now look forward to working on new initiatives such as the eradicateMalaria programme.”


A recording recording of the full event can be accessed here.
EU Malaria Fund: AchilleS Vaccines, Magnetrap, KELTIC Pharma and Sumaya receive a total of EUR 17.6 million to develop malaria vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics

September 3, 2021

This week, AchilleS Vaccines S.r.l., Magnetrap SA, KELTIC Pharma Therapeutics Ltd and Sumaya Biotech GmbH & Co. KG. concluded contracts with the EU Malaria Fund (EUMF) to receive a total of €17.6 million for their innovative Malaria vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics research programmes. 

The EU Malaria Fund's full press release can be found here. 
“The time is now” – making the vaccine to eradicate Malaria
  • BioNTech SE announces project to develop the first mRNA-based prophylactic malaria vaccine, and the set-up of manufacturing infrastructures in Africa 
  • Success of COVID-19 vaccines creates global opportunity for the fight against malaria
  • EU Malaria Fund successfully funded variety of malaria projects and will enter post-investment period
July 26, 2021

In a public ceremony held today, it has been announced that the EU Malaria Fund has successfully accomplished its mission earlier than expected. Therefore, on June 30, 2021, its investment period has ended. The Fund looks back at successfully initiating more than two dozen novel scientific approaches to the fight of malaria, and on financing numerous innovative companies. 

The EU Malaria Fund aims to conclude all investments already in concrete negotiations, following positive decision by all its Committees, and disburse those to the companies in case the respective financing contracts will be signed timely, and provided that the preconditions for disbursements are fulfilled prior to September 30, 2021. Thereafter, it will service the investment portfolio until the end of the post-investment phase period. No additional funding and investments will be made by the Fund, and it will thus not call upon further disbursements from its investors. 

The EU Malaria Fund's full press release can be found here. 
EUMF portfolio company: Sanaria vaccine trial results demonstrate unprecedented progress in worldwide battle against variant malaria parasites
findings published in Nature offer potential for use by travelers and prevention of malaria in African populations in near future

In an article published in Nature on June 30, 2021, Sanaria’s PfSPZ-CVac (CQ) vaccine is reported as being safe and protecting 100% of six subjects against a variant malaria parasite three months after their last dose in the company’s Phase 1 safety and efficacy trial. This is the first time complete protection against a variant malaria parasite has ever been achieved that long after vaccine administration.

The variant parasite used in the trial is a Brazilian malaria parasite genetically more variant from the African parasites in the vaccine than 700 malaria parasites from Africa. Protection was achieved at a dose that is 20% of the company’s first-generation malaria vaccine dosage.

On November 5, 2020, the EU Malaria Fund announced its investment into Sanaria. The company received 12.9M EUR for the development of two malaria vaccines, one malaria therapeutic, and one oral Sars-CoV-2 vaccine.

“We are highly encouraged by the important findings reported in this seminal paper, findings which justify our investment in Sanaria and its systematic, scientifically based approach to developing the highly protective, cost effective malaria vaccines we need to eliminate malaria, a scourge of humanity, particularly for the most underserved on our planet,” said Holm Keller, Executive Chairman of kENUP Foundation, the initiator of the EU Malaria Fund.
 
“These results represent extremely important progress, unanticipated by most malaria experts,” said Professor Martin Grobusch, Head of the Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers. “Until recently, malaria vaccine developers sought to achieve high-level protection against non-variant malaria parasites, often only two to three weeks after vaccination, with immunity waning thereafter. The finding of 100% protection against variant parasites that are so divergent from the vaccine parasites at three months is unprecedented. This vaccine approach should be advanced now as a potential tool to protect travelers to Africa and further developed for the prevention of malaria in African populations.”

“Sanaria’s vaccine development program is designed to produce safe, cost-effective vaccines that provide high-level protection against malaria parasites that cause more than 400,000 deaths annually, primarily in Africa,” said Stephen L. Hoffman, Sanaria’s CEO. “With this goal in mind, Sanaria and our partners in the International PfSPZ Consortium have pursued a step-by-step approach to maintaining safety, increasing efficacy toward 100% against variant parasites, increasing the durability of efficacy, and decreasing the required vaccine dosage. This study reports huge progress in all four areas.”
 

Jean-Luc Bodmer, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Caroline Boulton, Novartis; Nicola Veibig , European Vaccine Initiative (EVI); Holm Keller, EU Malaria Fund / kENUP Foundation; Timothy Wells, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV); June 23, 2021, third panel.

Malaria Prevention: Shaping Next-Gen Medical Interventions

The working meeting has been convened by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute between June 17 and 23, 2021. 
EU Malaria Fund: DMG to receive financing to develop Fos-Clin-Art - a triple combination therapy for Plasmodium falciparum malaria

On June 1, 2021, DMG Deutsche Malaria GmbH concluded a contract with the EU Malaria Fund (EUMF) to receive €2.7 million for the development of DMG’s antimalarial triple combination therapy. The therapy consists of three known drugs: fosmidomycin, clindamycin, and artesunate (Fos-Clin-Art).

DMG is a Hamburg-based company, founded in 2003 to fight malaria. DMG together with Prof. Kremsner’s group at the University of Tübingen is developing this new combination therapy for Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The triple combination Fos-Clin-Art aims at improving the outcome of both the severe and life-threatening Plasmodium falciparum malaria and of concomitant bacteriaemia. Together, fosmidomycin and clindamycin cover the full spectrum of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, and also possess excellent intrinsic antimalarial activity additive to artesunate. Since all three substances have a short half-life, the triple combination is expected to ameliorate and shorten the duration of the needed treatment. The EUMF funding supports DMG’s efforts to conduct the clinical development of Fos-Clin-Art with an overall participant number of more than 5.000 patients in Africa, especially children with severe malaria. 

Dr. David Hutchinson, Managing Director of DMG, said: “As a recipient, DMG acknowledges the major contribution of the EUMF in facilitating the financing of projects of public health significance where funding is not ordinarily available. This initiative endorses the Company’s objective to develop novel and improved therapies for malaria which are both safe and affordable for vulnerable populations at greatest risk from the disease. DMG expresses its sincere gratitude for the financial support it receives from the EUMF and applauds the establishment of this funding initiative.”      

Holm Keller, Co-Managing Director of EUMF and Chairman of kENUP Foundation said: “We are very excited about this investment and hope it can contribute by bringing this much needed malaria therapeutic into the clinic”.

The English press release can be accessed here, a version in German language is available here. 

Stefan Sonneberg, Co-Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund, private photo

Stefan Sonnenberg joins the EU Malaria Fund

The EU Malaria Fund warmly welcomes Stefan Sonnenberg, who is complementing the team of Managing Directors on May 1, 2021.

Mr. Sonnenberg joins the Fund after working for 30 years in HypoVereinsbank/UniCredit’s financing business, where he held various senior management positions.

Dr. Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis Srl, photo courtesy company

Two EU Malaria Fund platform technologies entering clinical validation this week in Italy: COVID-eVax and mAbCo19

Amidst worries about a third COVID-19 wave and emerging coronavirus variants, there’s a lot of good news from Italy: two clinical trials have started in Italy this week. 

On March 1, Takis and Rottapharm Biotech announced the start of the clinical trial of COVID-eVax, their jointly developed vaccine candidate. "The start of the clinical trials represents an important step in the development of DNA technology against COVID-19 but also for other diseases", says Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO and scientific director of Takis. 

But that is not all, AchilleS Vaccines, that was granted financing in June by the EU Malaria Fund, together with Toscana Life Sciences (trial sponsor) and Cross Alliance (a CRO) is managing clinical trial sites on Monday for their monoclonal antibody, mAbCo19. “Within a bit more than six months we’ve been able, with the support of an outstanding team, to transform a patent into a product which is quite an unbelievable outcome”, says Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO and president of AchilleS Vaccines. “The aim is now reached; the product is there.”

Please click here for the full text. 
Potentially game changing COVID-19 therapeutic initially financed by the EU Malaria Fund completes industrial development

The innovative monoclonal antibody developed by AchilleS sRL can be administered intramuscularly, thus broadening the access to highly-effective COVID-19 treatments. The product candidate will now be further tested in the clinic, possibly leading to an emergency market authorization early this summer. 

Please click here for the full press release. 
Our search for a new Co-Managing Director

The EU Malaria Fund is looking for new a Co-Managing Director to work alongside Holm Keller in bringing the fund forward. If providing risk-sharing solutions for the development of products fighting infectious disease is your passion, please do get in touch with us. 

For details, and how to apply, please refer to the posting. 
EU Malaria Fund adds six new companies to its portfolio

During its 8th Session held on December 18, 2020, the Scientific Advisory Council of the EU Malaria Fund has included the following six companies to the Fund's portfolio: 

Global Access Diagnostics (with Mologic), In2Care (with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Konica Minolta Austria (with the University of Pretoria), Serum Institute of India (with Oxford University's Jenner Institute, advised by Lion’s Head Global Partners), Takis Biotech S.r.l, (with Rottapharm Biotech S.r.l., IGEA S.p.A., DPhar S.p.A., and Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute) as well as VicuTec Biologicals GmbH (with Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and University Medical Center in Göttingen). 

All of us at the EU Malaria Fund warmly welcome our new partners, and express our deep gratitude for their encouraging support of the global fight against Malaria. 
EU Malaria Fund at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting 2020

The EU Malaria Fund was presented at the Parasitology Pre-meeting Course: "The Science and Business of Vaccines Against Tropical Parasitic Diseases in the COVID19 Era" which was held on Friday, November 13, 2020
EU Malaria Fund: Sanaria Inc. to receive financing for development of Malaria vaccine

On November 5, 2020, the EU Malaria Fund Berlin has presented its next investment in support of the development of interventions against the deadly disease.  Sanaria Inc. will receive 12.9M EUR for the development of two malaria vaccines, one malaria therapeutic, and one oral Sars-CoV-2 vaccine. Sanaria Inc. is a late-stage clinical biotech company located in Maryland, USA, and was founded in 2003. 

During the signature ceremony, Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman - Sanaria’s founder and CEO - stated, “Malaria continues to exact a devastating toll, especially among the most under-served populations in sub-Saharan Africa. A vaccine to prevent malaria is an essential tool for the control and elimination of this scourge, yet the funds invested in malaria vaccine research and development have been far from sufficient compared to the magnitude of the problem. We applaud the establishment of the European Union Malaria Fund to address this critical funding gap. Sanaria was founded to develop attenuated, whole-parasite, PfSPZ vaccines for preventing malaria and we are grateful and honored to be the recipient of this financial investment by the EU Malaria Fund in Sanaria’s PfSPZ malaria vaccine program.”

Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the World Health Organisation’s Global Malaria Programme, added: “Together with WHO’s technical expertise we are confident of accelerating the development of new and innovative tools. The investment of the EU Malaria Fund in Sanaria will meaningfully advance the renewed efforts in our fight against Malaria."

Holm Keller, Co-Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund, concluded: “We are very excited about this new investment. Sanaria is developing one of the most advanced malaria vaccines candidates worldwide. We hope that this investment will  substantially further the path towards elimination of this terrible disease."
KELTICpharma to join the portfolio of the EU Malaria Fund

With a decision taken on October 31, 2020, the Scientific Advisory Council of the EU Malaria Fund has included KELTICpharma to the portfolio of the Fund. 

KELTICpharma's work is based on two discoveries recently published by its scientific founders  Prof. Andrew Tobin, Prof. Graeme Milligan and Dr. Andrew Jamieson of Glasgow University in Science ad Science Translational Medicine (Alam et al., Science 365, 884 (2019) 30 August 2019, and Prihandoko et al., Science Translational Medicine. 12, eaaw9009 (2020) 19 August 2020). 

By identification of essential pathways the authors have established that a particular protein kinase called PfCLK3, when inhibited can not only kill the blood stage of the malaria parasite but also kill liver stage and prevent development through the sexual stages. In this way inhibitors to PfCLK3 can offer a cure, prophylaxis and a block of transmission.

kELTICpharma is lead by CEO Dr. Elaine Sullivan. The company and Evotec SE have signed an Letter of Intent with the aim to establish a long-term product development partnership. 
Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccines Wins Highly Commended Prophylactic Vaccine at the 13th Annual Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards

Sanaria’s PfSPZ vaccines were shortlisted at the VIE awards with: Pfizer, Takeda, Janssen, Merck, Inovio, Geneone/Inovio, and BiondVax. Only two awards were given: Pfizer won the Award for Best Prophylactic Vaccine, with Sanaria beating out the rest.
Hermann Bujard is dead

It was his dream to find a vaccine against Malaria. Travelling the many roads life took this distinguished scientist and academic teacher,  Prof. Bujard worked on gene regulation and bacterial genetics before co-developing the Tet system for the precise experimental control of gene expression in mammalian cells. Now, just before the end of his life, he might have come close to achieving his main goal. His team, with support from the EU Malaria Fund, will now have to finish the development of SumayaVac without Hermann Bujard's inspirational leadership. We miss him.  
From left to right: Bettina Stöber-Grad, Marcel Rückwald, Denis Bach, Holm Keller, Rolf-Heinrich Schäfer, Angeliki Krisilion, Federico Flossbach, Nicolai Heinzmann, Torsten Harr, Matthias von Bismarck-Osten
Meet the team of EMM on the top of Berlin - and come to visit our offices at the IBB Tower on Bundesallee 210, 10719 Berlin.  
From left to right: Martin von Niederhäusern, Funding Partner, Stockhorn Advisors GmbH; Lukas Stücklin, Co-Founder, Invethos AG; Marc Baumann, President, Jacques und Gloria Gossweiler-Stiftung; Holm Keller, Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund
Visiting their corporate offices in Bern on June 26, 2020, the EU Malaria Fund acknowledged Invethos AG and the Jacques and Gloria Gossweiler Foundation for their investment into EUMF, which eventually tipped the scales for the  EU Malaria Fund to reach its closing size on June 3, 2020. 
The presentation of the Initial Investment of the EU Malaria Fund in AchilleS Vaccines Srl was held at Palazzo Sansedoni, Siena, on Thursday June 18, 2020 at 11:00h. 
The Closing of the EU Malaria Fund has been announced by the European Commission on June 3, 2020.  
On June 3, 2020, the day of the Closing of the EU Malaria Fund, The Guardian has published its annual special edition dedicated to the fight against malaria, in a print version alongside a separate online edition. 
In a public ceremony, the EU Malaria Fund has been closed on June 3, 2020.  The press release of the European Investment Bank EIB can be found here, kENUP Foundation's parallel release is available here.
A recording of the Online Launch Ceremony of EU Malaria Fund  can be viewed here: 
A new partnership between WHO - the United Nations health agency - and EIB - the world’s largest international public bank - announced at WHO headquarters in Geneva on May 1, 2020, will help increase resilience to reduce the health and social impact of future health emergencies. Among other aims, "WHO and EIB will collaborate on a new EU Malaria Fund, to address market failures in developing more effective vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for malaria ", says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. 

Dr. Tedros continues: "Although malaria deaths have fallen by more than half since the year 2000, progress has stalled in recent years, and may even reverse if the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts malaria control programmes. Last year, WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Malaria Eradication and the Lancet Commission on Malaria Eradication both concluded that we will need new tools if we are to achieve the dream of eradicating malaria. Both reports called for increased investment in research and development to deliver new tools. With WHO’s technical expertise and the European Investment Bank’s financial muscle, we are confident of accelerating the development of those new tools."
On April 3, 2020, a virtual grant initiation meeting has been held between the Investmentbank of the State of Berlin (IBB), kENUP Foundation, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU Malaria Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 
European Investment (EIB) reports about the EU Malaria Fund and its relevance in the context of pandemics and climate change. The full article by Matt Rees dated March 17, 2020 can be found here.  
On March 12, 2020, the EU Malaria Fund has received an anonymous letter dated February 10, 2020. The author of this letter accuses the Fund of various wrongdoings. As none of these accusations are accurate, we make the above-mentioned letter available to the public here, and provide corrected information to those interested here. 
On February 25, 2020, kENUP Foundation visited the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN), Burkina Faso.  Located in rural area half-way between the capital Ouagadougou and the western border to Mali, pivotal clinical trials for several  portfolio companies are expected to be conducted here.  As to MMV's Severe Malaria Observatory, Malaria is responsible for 61.5% of hospitalizations and 30.5% of deaths in Burkina Faso. The disease is also the leading cause of death  for children under the age of five (49.6%). 
First row, third from right, going to left: Dr. Innocent Valea, PharmD, PhD, Senior Scientist and leader of quality management systems at CRUN; Prof. Dr. Halidou Tinto, PharmD, PhD, Regional Director of IRSS and Head of CRUN; Holm Keller, Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund; Dr. Hermann Sorgho, Msc, PhD, Senior Scientist at CRUN 
On December 20, 2019 - in the presence of Dr. Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, Dr. Matthias Kollatz, Senator of Finance of the Federal State of Berlin, and Dr. Jörg Wojahn, Representative of the European Commission to the Federal Republic of Germany - the initial financing agreements establishing the “EU Malaria Fund” have been signed in Berlin. Through these agreements, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank are investing more than € 110 million into our innovative funding instrument. 
From right to left: Torsten Harr, Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund; Dr. Jörg Wojahn, Representative of the European Commission to the Federal Republic of Germany; Dr. Matthias Kollatz, Senator of Finance of the Federal State of Berlin; Dr. Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank; Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank; Holm Keller, Managing Director of the EU Malaria Fund
On the occasion of the World Health Summit 2019 on October 29, 2019,  its audience has been informed about the EU Malaria Fund. This announcement was supported by a press information. 
A press release dated October 9, 2019, referenced the Gates Foundation and the European Investment Bank EIB collaboration on the project. 
From left to right:  Dr. Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank;  Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chairman of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Photo: EIB
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