Bayer CropScience Signs on to Fight Malaria, other Vector-Borne Diseases

MONHEIM, Germany — Bayer CropScience has signed an agreement with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) to collaborate on two projects aimed at finding new effective solutions in the fight against malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

The first Bayer CropScience project, in partnership with the Medical Research Council, South Africa, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is aimed at finding a long-lasting solution for indoor residual spraying for mosquito control.

The second Bayer CropScience project includes LSTM and the University of Liverpool as partners to modify current active ingredients to solve the resistance problem which makes the combat against mosquitoes which transfer malaria and other diseases less and less effective.

The IVCC is a consortium of leading institutions in the field of the development of vector control products and information systems formed with a grant of $50.7 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The strategy of the consortium is to identify opportunities for the development of new products, strategies and tools for improved vector control, and to enable and support those projects through developing partnerships that will provide the resources to bring them to fruition.

"This partnership is a clear sign for us that our expertise and our long-term commitment to fight malaria by offering effective products in vector control has been acknowledged,” said Dr. Friedrich Berschauer, chairman of the board of management of Bayer CropScience AG. "We are very proud to work with the IVCC on finding a sustainable solution in the combat of one of the world’s most devastating diseases."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than three billion people live under the threat of malaria; each year more than one million people — mostly children — are killed by the disease which is caused by a protozoan parasite. The vector for the human malarial parasite is the Anopheles mosquito, which can be effectively controlled by insecticides for vector control.

"Bayer CropScience is a world leader in discovering innovative compounds for public health uses. Together with the substantial knowledge available within the IVCC and the project’s other partners, we will have an excellent chance to find new options for the vector control of malaria especially with a view to addressing increasing resistance problems,” said Prof. Dr. Janet Hemingway, chief executive officer of the IVCC.

Bayer CropScience has in the past worked with organizations such as WHO, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as USAID to provide vector control products and insect resistance management programs in Africa, India, South East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.