Fighting malaria : EU-funded malaria research under Framework Programmes 6 and 7.
Date: 2009-10-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: infectious disease, medical research, research programme, tropical disease

Million Euro

FP6

Basic research

Drugs

Vaccines

Vector

Other

24.7

37.7

24.2

0

0.4

Total   (cid:31)100 m*

*incl FP6 funds through

EDCTP (not yet all committed)

Malaria

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Million Euro
25

20

15

10

5

0

FP7

Basic research

Drugs

Vaccines

Vector

Diagnostics

23.7

7.5

10.6

17.8

1.4

Total incl. 2008 (cid:31) 61 m

Malaria

Fig.5: Malaria research under EU’s FP7 (2007 – 2013, up to 2008 call)

Africa. A prolongation of the funding of the 
EDCTP programme under FP7 provisions 
is presently being discussed.

Of  particular  note  is  the  remarkable 
progress  in  the  self-organisation  of  the 
respective  malaria  research  areas  that 
has  been  achieved  under  FP6  (Figure 
4) and that has been pursued under the 
ﬁ rst three calls of FP7. Virtually the entire 
European  malaria  research  community, 
complemented  by  many  African  partner 
groups  and  other  non-EU  researchers, 
have  come  together  under  a  number  of 
key  umbrella  projects  on  basic  malaria 
research, drugs, and vaccines; following 
the  2009  call,  they  will  also  collaborate 
on  vector 
research.  These  projects 
complement  each  other  in  many  ways, 
most  prominently  in  a  jointly  undertaken 
European Malaria Graduate School, which 
has  already  produced  a  new  generation 
of  more  than  50  European  and  African 
PhD students in the ﬁ eld of malaria.

The overall approach for the future should 
be  to  capitalise  on  these  structural 
advances,  which  need  to  be  sustained, 
as they allow European malaria research 
to more actively take on its due share of 
the global research agenda for malaria. 

4. THE 

MALARIA 
RESEARCH 
COMMU-
 NITY HAVE 
THEIR SAY

for 

the 

A  recent  consultation  of  the  EU  and 
African  malaria  research  communities 
Future’,  EU 
(‘Challenges 
Commission  conference,  Brussels,  13 
and  14  November  2008)  resulted  in 
the  following  recommendations  for  EU-
funded research.

➤  Malaria  vaccine  development  still 
requires new immunogenic antigens, 
possibly  in  combination  with  current 
leads. Preclinical assays and selection 
criteria  should  be  based  on  a  more 
thorough  understanding  of  immune 
responses.  As  falciparum  and  vivax 
malaria  are  co-prevalent  in  many 
places,  an  anti-vivax  component 
for  combination  vaccines  should  be 
explored. A pregnancy vaccine was 

4

considered  amenable  to  a  straight-
forward  approach  since  a  functional 
target has been identiﬁ ed.  

leads 

➤  The  search  for  new  anti-malarial 
drugs should make use of chemical 
in 
libraries  and  promising 
ethnic  pharmacology.  Malaria  drug 
development  should  also  include 
medicinal  chemistry,  and  structure-
activity  relationships  (SARs)  should 
be  pursued.  Research  frameworks 
should  ensure 
interesting 
leads  are  handed  over  to  private-
public  partnerships  (PPPs)  and/or 
industry at an early phase for further 
development. 

that 

➤  Treatment  without  prevention  is  not 
a sustainable approach to controlling 
transmission. In addition to vaccines, 
effective vector-control tools are also 
urgently needed. Research on vector 
control  should  span  the  range  from 
vector  and  population  biology  to 
new insecticides and implementation 
strategies.  Operational 
research 
into  malaria  control  and  eradication 
should 
rapid  diagnostics 
and  a  comparative  assessment  of 
intervention tools and strategies. 

include 

The  forthcoming  annual,  health-research 
work  programmes  under  FP7  will  strive 
to  meet  the  above  recommendations 
as  comprehensively  as  possible  and 
represent  a  continuation  of  EU  efforts 
over the past years: to contribute to the 
common ﬁ ght to reduce the global burden 
of  malaria,  and  possibly  to  eradicate 
malaria altogether. 

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

➥  FP6-funded malaria projects in the FP6 catalogue for Poverty-Linked Diseases:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/health/infectious-diseases/poverty-diseases/projects/l_fp6_en.htm 

➥  FP7-funded malaria projects: 

http://ec.europa.eu/research/health/infectious-diseases/poverty-diseases/projects/l_fp7_en.htm

➥  Conference Challenges for the Future, research on HIV/IADS, Malaria and Tuberculosis: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2008/poverty-related-diseases/index_en.html

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REFERENCES:

➥  World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/

➥  Lancet web site: http://ees.elsevier.com/thelancetid/

➥  Roll Back Malaria Partnership: http://www.rollbackmalaria.org/

➥  malERA (Malaria Eradication Rsearch Agenda) web site: http://malera.tropika.net/ 

➥  EDCTP web site: http://www.edctp.org 

➥  Malaria basic research network: BioMalPar, http://www.biomalpar.org

➥ 

Integrated Project to develop new anti-malarial drugs:  ANTIMAL, http://www.antimal.eu

➥  European Malaria Vaccine Development Association:  
EMVDA, http://www.emvda.org, coordinated by EMVI 
(European Malaria Vaccine Initiative, http://www.emvi.org). 

CONTACT:

European Commission, DG Rsearch 
Health Research, Unit F3 Infectious Diseases 
Andreas Holtel : andreas.holtel@ec.europa.eu
Rachida Ghalouci: rachida.ghalouci@ec.europa.eu

© European Communities, 2009
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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Fig.1: Areas at risk of P. falciparum 

and level of endemicity 

(Source: http://www.map.ox.ac.uk)

2. RESEARCH 

NEEDS FOR 
EFFICIENT 
MALARIA 
CONTROL

1. THE GLOBAL 
BURDEN OF 
MALARIA

What is malaria?

Malaria versus development

is  a 

Malaria 
vector-borne  disease 
transmitted to humans through the bite of 
female Anopheles mosquitoes. The most 
lethal of the ﬁ ve types of malaria that infect 
humans is Plasmodium falciparum, which 
is  especially  common  in  sub-Saharan 
Africa  but  is  also  present  in  tropical  and 
sub-tropical  areas  of  central  and  South 
America, Asia and the Middle East. 

One of the world’s most important 
public health concerns
The  World  Health  Organization  (WHO) 
estimates that among the 3.3 billion people 
at  risk,  there  were  247  million  malaria 
cases  in  2006,  causing  about  1  million 
deaths, mostly among children under the 
age of 5 and pregnant women. In 2008, 
109 countries were malaria endemic, 45 
within the WHO African region. 

According  to  the  World  Bank,  it  is 
estimated  that  malaria  reduces  gross 
domestic product (GDP) growth globally 
full  percentage 
by  approximately  1 
point  per  year.  The  lower  rates  of 
economic  growth  shown  by  malaria-
endemic  countries  (Figure  1)  hamper 
their development. The reduction of the 
malaria  burden  is  clearly  targeted  in  the 
United Nation’s Millennium Development 
goals, and initiatives have recently been 
started to try to eradicate the diseases. 
Among them is the Global Malaria Action 
Plan  (GMAP),  the  roadmap  for  malaria 
control and elimination worldwide which 
has  been  developed  by  the  Roll  Back 
(WHO,  UNICEF, 
Malaria  Partnership 
UNDP, the World Bank, the Bill & Melissa 
Gates  Foundation  and  more  than  100 
other partners). 

The  parasite  causing  malaria 
is  a 
sophisticated  organism  with  a  complex 
life cycle (Figure 2). It is present in human 
liver and blood cells for much of this cycle 
and hence is well-adapted to outsmart the 
human  immune  system  and,  equally  so, 
medical prevention and treatment devices.

The knowledge gaps and research needs 
are multiple, especially when the ultimate 
goal  is  the  complete  eradication  of 
malaria, where the efﬁ cacy and efﬁ ciency 
of  prevention,  treatment  and  diagnostic 
tools need to be raised signiﬁ cantly. 

Signiﬁ cant research investments are also 
needed to properly deploy implementation 
schemes  in  the  context  of  poor  health 
system  conditions  that  prevail  in  many 
malaria-endemic countries. 

Preventing

(e.g.  bed  nets, 

Malaria  can  be  prevented  by  different 
means:  by  using  physical  or  chemical 
barriers 
repellents) 
to  prevent  infected  mosquitoes  from 
biting  and  infecting  humans;  by  killing  or 
debilitating  the  mosquitoes  (insecticide 
sprays,  biological  pest  control);  and  by 
preventing  their  proliferation  (e.g.  sterile 
insects technology). 

➤  Research  should  not  only  concern 
the 
to 
resistance  of  mosquitoes 
insecticides, and involve the study of 
the toxicity of insecticides used, and the 
analysis of their impact on ecological 
balances,  but  must  also  profoundly 
enhance our understanding of vector 
epidemiology  and  the  behaviour  of 
mosquito vectors.

A  malaria  vaccine,  probably  the  most 
powerful  prevention 
tool,  does  not 
yet  exist,  but  a  promising  vaccine 
candidate  product  (RTS'S,  developed 
by  GlaxoSmithKline  (GSK)  Biologicals) 
is  progressing  into  phase  3  trials  which 
have  begun  at  several  sites  in  Africa 
(http://www.malariavaccine.org). 
If  an 
anti-infection  vaccine  becomes  available 
in the near future, it will need to be highly 
effective  since  natural  immunity  to  the 
disease  may  be  lowered  in  vaccinated 
populations in endemic regions. 

➤  Research  into  developing  a  good 
vaccine  would  be  facilitated  if  the 
mechanisms  of  naturally  acquired 
immunity  of  exposed  populations 
were better understood, and vaccine 
efﬁ cacy  should  be  enhanced  by 
integrating  multiple  antigens  into  a 
multi-component malaria vaccine. 

Migration
to salivary 
gland

Oocyst

Sporozoites

Invasion of
hepatocytes

Ring

Liver

Trophozoite

Merozoites

ERYTHROCYTIC
CYCLE

Schizont

Merozoites

Prevention in risk groups is also possible 
through 
intermittent  preventive  drug 
treatment (IPT) e.g. for pregnant women 
or  small  children,  with  some  possible 
safety  issues  concerning  administering 
certain  antimalarials  in  early  pregnancy, 
and the development of drug resistance 
due to large-scale application.

Treating

Treatment of malaria patients with drugs 
requires  continuous 
research  and 
development  efforts  to  generate  new 
anti-malaria  drugs,  as  expanded  use 
of  drugs  triggers  the  development  of 
resistance.  Research  is  also  needed 
to  reveal  the  mechanisms  of  such 
resistance  development,  and  how 
these  can  be  circumvented.  The  large 
molecule  libraries  now  available  and 
the  collections  of  traditional  remedies 
represent resources that deserve to be 
tapped into on a larger scale. 

Diagnosing

treatment 

in  malaria-endemic 
Efﬁ cient 
regions requires affordable tools for rapid 
diagnosis,  which  are  not  only  sensitive 
and speciﬁ c, but also reliable and robust, 
since the traditional microscopic analysis 
of  blood  ﬁ lms  is  not  always  feasible, 
especially  in  resource-poor  settings.  In 
addition, high-throughput molecular tools 
are needed as surveillance tools, e.g. for 
monitoring drug resistance markers. And 
large-scale  diagnostics  of  asymptomatic 
carriers will constitute a particular challenge 
for elimination and eradication efforts. 

FP6

Basic research

Drugs

Vaccines

Vector

Other

Million Euro
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

24.7

37.7

24.2

0

0.4

Total   (cid:31)100 m*
*incl FP6 funds through
EDCTP (not yet all committed)

Fig.3: Malaria research under EU’s FP6 (2002 – 2006)

Malaria

3. HOW 

EUROPEAN 
RESEARCH 
TACKLES 
MALARIA

Under  the  EU’s  previous  Framework 
Programme  for  Research  (FP6,  2002-
Million Euro
2006),  a  total  of  17  cooperative  malaria 
25
research  projects  were  supported  to 
the tune of about EUR 64 million (Figure 
20
3).  These  include  three  large  projects 

which  have  helped  greatly  to  structure 
the  European  Research  Area 
(ERA) 
in  the  ﬁ eld  of  malaria  research  (Figure 
4):  (1)  a  strong  malaria  basic  research 
network  (BioMalPar);  (2)  an  Integrated 
Project 
to  develop  new  antimalarial 
drugs  (ANTIMAL);  and  (3)  the  European 
Malaria Vaccine Development Association 
(EMVDA) coordinated by EMVI (European 
Malaria Vaccine Initiative). 

the 

Basic research
Seventh 

FP7
Under 
Framework 
Programme for Research or FP7 (2007-
2013),  European  research  in  the  ﬁ eld 
of  malaria  is  being  consolidated  and 

Vaccines

Drugs

Vector

reinforced (Figure 5). The EU has tackled 
identiﬁ ed  gaps  in  certain  sub-areas  of 
malaria  research:  for  example,  malaria 
in pregnancy was covered by a speciﬁ c 
topic under FP7’s ﬁ rst call for proposals, 
and a call has been launched in 2009 to 
establish a major project on controlling the 
malaria mosquito vector.

Future FP7 calls will address other research 
topics  pertinent  to  sustaining  efﬁ cient 
control of malaria and contributing to global 
malaria eradication efforts. They will focus 
on improvements to antimalarial drugs and 
diagnostics,  providing  sound  rationales 
for  optimised  vaccines,  and,  under  the 
‘Public health’ pillar of the Health Research 
programme,  will  address  aspects  of 
implementation,  in  particular  to  assess 
how different types of malaria control can 
best  be  implemented  under  the  existing 
conditions of local health systems.

The  European  Union  also  contributes 
to  the  funding  of  the  European  and 
Developing  Countries  Clinical  Trials 
Partnership (EDCTP), a programme which 
supports phase 2 and 3 trials as well as 
capacity  building  related  to  malaria  (and 
HIV/AIDS  and  tuberculosis)  research  in 

15

10

MALARIA DRUGS

MALARIA BASIC RESEARCH

MALARIA VACCINES

ANTIMAL

BioMalPar

EMVDA

Diagnostics

5

EU support: €17.75 million
29 European partners 
7.5
+ 10 African partners
Coordinator: LSTM, Liverpool

23.7

10.6

0

Malaria

Down-selection to 1-3 candidate 
drugs among various candidate 
classes (aminoquinolines, peroxides, 
phospholipid synthesis 
& other targets etc)

17.8

1.4

EU support: €15.9 million
18 European partners
 + 5 African partners 
+ 1 Indian partner
Coordinator: Inst. Pasteur, Paris

Total incl. 2008 (cid:31) 61 m

Basic Research areas: parasites genetics,
 cell biology & metabolism, pathogenesis, 
immunology and mosquito vector
~300 publications/year
Joint malaria PhD school: ~55 students 

EU support: €13.5 million
13 European partners 
+ 7 African partners
Coordinator: EMVI

Pipeline approach: candidate antigens, 
platforms, adjuvants, preclinical assays 
selecting 2-3 vaccine candidates 
for ph1/ph2a trials

Ookinete

Fertilization in
mosquito gut

Gametocytes

Fig.2: Life cycle of the malaria parasite

(image by Andreas Heddini)

EDCTP (European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials programme) EU support: € 200 million
Partners: 14 EU Member States + Norway + Switzerland
Offices: The Hague, Netherlands, and Cape Town, South Africa

Trials and capacity building for HIV/AIDS, malaria & tuberculosis research in Africa

Fig.4: EU-funded projects structuring the European Research Area in the ﬁ eld of MALARIA with partners from Africa

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