1. The South African Malaria Initiative A Case Study E Jane Morris http://www.acgt.co.za/sami Bridging the Gap in Global Health Innovation - from Needs to Access

2. 2 Scale of the malaria problem 107 endemic countries with 3.2 billion people at risk (40% of world’s population) At least 1 million people die in Africa each year from malaria Over 200 million clinical malaria cases in Africa each year Over 4 million people in SA live in malaria areas (10% of the population) Almost 80 million cases each year in the Southern Africa malaria control area Climate change will increase population at risk in Southern Africa fourfold by 2020

3. 3 Global distribution of malaria risk Source: World Malaria Report 2005

4. 4 Current situation Disease, patients, clinical trial sites, market Research Development TestingProduction

5. 5 Building for the future: Disease, patients, clinical trial sites, market Research Development TestingProduction

6. 6 The South African Malaria Initiative A network of researchers from 16 institutions in South Africa Seed funding provided by SA Department of Science and Technology Focusing on development of drugs, diagnostics, and molecular epidemiology Supported by core expertise groups Capacity building and training a key component

7. 7 The discovery pipeline in SAMI Targets Leads Biomarkers Diagnostics Functional Genomics Structural Informatics Medicinal Chemistry Genetic manipulation of parasites Anti-malarial assays Supporting Core Expertise Functional Expression of malaria proteins Products Capacity building IPNetworking

8. 8 From Knowledge to Innovation in SAMI Discovery Lab testing/ validation ADMETox, Early stage trials Clinical development, regulatory approval Production & marketing Being developed in SAMI Establishment of HTS platform under consideration Pre-clinical platform under discussion Clinical trials possible, lack regulatory capacity Capacity for production of generics. Facility for diagnostics being established

9. 9 From Knowledge to Innovation in SAMI Discovery Lab testing/ validation Early stage trials Clinical development, regulatory approval Production & marketing Need for international collaboration Need for funding Need for business partnerships

10. 10 Early successes Drug delivery system able to reverse chloroquine resistance Provisional patent covering anti-malarial activity of a drug registered for other uses Novel RDT ready for field screening by mid-2008 Novel in vitro HTS assay validated Drug target accepted for in silico virtual screening (WISDOM)

11. 11 Our strengths Excellent base of cutting edge research and facilities to draw on Networked approach makes best use of available equipment, facilities and expertise Investing in people and activities not bricks and mortar Unique holdings of live mosquito cultures Access to field sites and collaborations in many African countries. An African focus on an African problem!