- Eyam Health, a Canadian biotech, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) will work together to develop new cost-effective next-generation monoclonal antibody-based antimalarials, using Eyam's advanced biologics technology.
- The partnership aims to create affordable, long-lasting preventive therapies and treatments, which could step-change the fight against drug-resistant malaria in settings with limited healthcare infrastructure.
- Eyam Health uses two powerful technologies, Jennerator, an AI engine for designing therapies and Gemini, a next-generation delivery system making it possible to include multiple therapies in a single dose.
- This approach to the development of monoclonal antibodies can target complex diseases like malaria more effectively, simplify treatment regimes, improve compliance and be a future malaria elimination accelerator.
Eyam Health and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) are excited to announce a strategic research partnership to discover and evaluate next generation monoclonal antibody-based approaches for affordable, long-acting malaria therapies. This could be a game changer in accelerating MMV’s strategic ambitions to build the next generation of life saving antimalarials in the face of increasing drug resistance.
This collaboration will harness Eyam’s groundbreaking technologies to transform how monoclonal antibodies are developed and delivered. The Jennerator platform uses advanced AI to rapidly design next-generation biologics, while the Gemini system enables those therapies to be delivered with unmatched durability, without cold storage, and at a fraction of the traditional cost. Importantly, Gemini can carry multiple antibodies at once in a single dose—making it possible to target multiple stages of the parasite’s lifecycle.
With almost 600,000 deaths and over 250,000,000 cases annually, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa,1 malaria is not just a public health issue, it’s a massive economic strain. The disease primarily affects infants and children, as well as pregnant women and their unborn children. Moreover, it places a significant burden on caregivers and working mothers, who often bear the responsibility of caring for the sick.
One of the most promising aspects of the Gemini platform is its ability to carry multiple therapeutics and deliver them together in a single shot—for less than $1 per dose. A single long-acting injection could protect over 50 million young children and pregnant women for the entire rainy season (typically 4-5 months) during peak malaria transmission. It would significantly simplify seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), improve compliance and support further expansion, complementing the current suite of prevention tools including bed nets, vaccines and vector control. Importantly for pandemic preparedness, the Gemini platform as a nucleic acid-based technology will be readily adapted for local African manufacturing.
Dr. Brice Campo, MMV's Senior Director, Head of Biology and Novel Technologies, said, "The collaboration with Eyam Health represents a great step forward in looking at innovative technologies that could serve the fight against malaria. The approach to develop affordable monoclonal antibodies with longer dosing intervals could be truly transformative for improving delivery and efficacy of broadscale preventive malaria campaigns including potential use in mass administration campaigns to accelerate malaria elimination."
Monoclonal antibodies have been considered a potential alternative technology for antimalarials thanks to their favourable potency, durability of response and safety profile. However, to date, monoclonal antibodies have had limited exposure in global public health due to their high cost of production. Eyam Health’s proprietary technology, Gemini, dispenses with the need for expensive lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Together with the extended dosage interval this makes it an attractive technology to evaluate in resource-limited settings.
"The intersection of advanced biologics and tropical disease represents a paradigm shift in global health, "says Dr Wilf Jefferies, Chief Scientific Officer of Eyam Health. "Our partnership with MMV validates the transformative potential of our proprietary platform technologies while positioning Eyam at the forefront of next-generation infectious disease therapeutics. This isn’t just another biotech innovation; this is a new paradigm for global health."
Eyam Health and MMV are committed to advancing healthcare solutions that are both effective and economically viable. This partnership underscores their dedication to addressing global health challenges with innovative technology and improving the lives of those affected by malaria and beyond.
About Eyam Health
Founded in 2020, Eyam Health is pioneering the next generation of biologics technologies. Our proprietary Gemini and Jennerator platforms are driving breakthrough advances across infectious disease, oncology, chronic disease and animal health applications. Through revolutionary self-amplifying nucleic acid delivery systems and AI-powered biologics design, Eyam is transforming medicine by making innovative health solutions more effective, accessible, and durable for patients worldwide.
- The Jennerator platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize monoclonal antibody characteristics for enhanced potency, stability, and manufacturability.
- The Gemini platform enables durable protein expression from a single dose, reducing the need for repeat treatments in low-resource settings. Its carrier-free design simplifies manufacturing, and it can deliver multiple therapies at once—making it ideal for scalable, low-cost interventions.
For more information, visit www.eyamhealth.com
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About MMV
MMV is a Swiss not-for-profit working to deliver a portfolio of accessible medicines with the power to treat, prevent and eliminate malaria. Born in 1999 to drive health equity, MMV closes critical gaps in research, development and access to expand the use of existing antimalarials and innovate new compounds. As of 2024, MMV-supported products have effectively treated an estimated 711 million patients. For more information, visit www.mmv.org.
About monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are potent and well tolerated drugs that enable the targeted treatment of a disease and are already used broadly across western medicine, for example in many cancer treatments. Monoclonal antibodies are immune system proteins that are created in the lab. Antibodies are produced naturally by your body and help the immune system recognize germs that cause disease, such as bacteria and viruses, and mark them for destruction. Like your body’s own antibodies, monoclonal antibodies recognize specific targets.
For press enquiries, contact:
Samad Raza
Business Analyst
Phone +1 (778) 381-1075
E-mail: sraza@eyamhealth.com
Doreen Akiyo Yomoah
Communications Manager
MMV
Phone +41 79 238 60 74
E-mail: yomoahd@mmv.org
