Institut Pasteur Korea Advances Discovery of

New Antimalarial Candidates Through

Collaboration with Global Non-profit Organization

- IPK and MMV will establish an experimental platform for the identification and evaluation of chemical starting points for antimalarial drug discovery. 

- This project will strengthen Institut Pasteur Korea’s partnerships with global health organizations.

(Dec. 19, 2025, Gyeonggi-do, Rep. of Korea) Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) announced on 18 that it has entered a research collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a Swiss not-for-profit organization, to support the development of new antimalarial therapeutics.

Through this collaboration, the two institutions will initiate early-stage research utilizing IPK’s high-content/high-throughput screening platform and plan to expand the partnership to encompass assay development, hit validation, and toxicity assessment across the full discovery cascade for antimalarial candidate molecules.

Malaria is an acute febrile infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium parasites. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the number of malaria cases in Korea increased to 420 in 2022 and 747 in 2023, and remained high at 713 cases last year, indicating an overall upward trend and underscoring the need for sustained surveillance and strengthened preventive measures. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were approximately 282 million malaria cases worldwide in 2024, with an estimated 610,000 deaths.

IPK will establish an assay platform to identify hit compounds targeting the asexual blood stage of the Plasmodium parasite, enabling faster and more accurate evaluation of new chemical starting points for drug discovery projects. This system will strengthen the precision of large-scale screening and establish a systematic research framework for downstream efficacy assessment and the identification of promising compounds.

The collaboration is expected not only to strengthen antimalarial drug discovery but also serve as a strategic springboard for expanding partnerships with international public-health institutions and research organizations. Leveraging IPK’s expertise in infectious-disease research, its screening platforms, and its state-of-the-art research facilities, IPK anticipates further growth in global scientific collaboration.

MMV is a Swiss not-for-profit organization established in 1999 to deliver a portfolio of affordable and accessible medicines with the power to treat, prevent and eliminate malaria. Officially recognized as a non-state actor collaborating with WHO, MMV operates under a product development partnership (PDP) model to drive innovation and improve access to malaria treatments, strengthening global public health.

Professor Sung Key Jang, CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea, stated, “Our collaboration with MMV will serve as an important opportunity to further strengthen our connections within the global infectious-disease research network. In particular, we aim to contribute meaningfully to public health by preparing for and responding to infectious diseases that may expand due to future climate changes.”

“This collaboration with Institut Pasteur Korea is an exciting step forward in strengthening the discovery of next-generation antimalarial medicines. By combining IPK’s cutting-edge screening technologies with MMV’s drug development expertise, we aim to identify and advance promising compounds that move us closer to a world free from malaria,” said Dr Martin Fitchet, CEO, MMV.