Italy to Be First Beneficiary of EU Malaria Fund: Siena-Based Achilles Vaccines srl to Receive Financing to Fight Malaria and COVID-19
The EU Malaria Fund (EUMF) yesterday presented its first investment into Achilles Vaccines srl at the premises of Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Italy. The investment supports development of a novel Malaria vaccine on its versatile technology platform transforming bacteria, natural carriers of molecules harmful to human health, into an efficient delivery system of bio antigenic molecules to produce low-cost, safe and self-adjuvanting fit-for-purpose vaccines. The EUMF funding, with support from Fondazione TLS, will also be used to advance Achilles’ project to develop a novel human monoclonal antibody against COVID-19.
The first recipient of EUMF funding, Achilles, is a Siena-based biotech company specialising in research on malaria, antimicrobial resistance and, lately, COVID-19. “Achilles Vaccines is proud to contribute to the search for vaccines to eliminate malaria, a disease that faded into the background in these dramatic months, but which still claims significantly more victims than COVID-19 does, especially among children. Thanks to the guidance of Dr Rappuoli, we escape the challenge of finding a therapeutic and prophylactic drug with our monoclonal antibody, that finally makes the pandemic in which we find ourselves manageable”, said Riccardo Baccheschi, President and CEO of Achilles.
Holm Keller, Managing Director of EUMF and Chairman of kENUP Foundation said: “The EU Malaria Fund has high hopes, that the investment at the heart of the Siena vaccine hub in Italy will help to accelerate the eradication of Malaria. I am delighted that in these trying times, innovative Italian companies, like Achilles, will play a role in developing solutions against COVID-19".
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are investing €111 million into the fund. “Vaccines are important for disease prevention,” said Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice President in charge of innovation. “But often they also generate lower revenues than drugs and other health care services and are thus less attractive for private investors. This is why initiatives like the EU Malaria Fund are so important. We are glad to see the first investment of this Fund materialise so quickly and hope that it will allow AchilleS to progress in this important field of research.”
“We are very proud to be the first Italian foundation to invest in the EU Malaria Fund. With a 1 million euros amount, the Fondazione MPS is pursuing two main goals in a long-term vision: supporting scientific research for those diseases that have a big impact on public health and attracting financial resources with long-term benefits for the province of Siena. – said Carlo Rossi, Chairman of Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, “We also appreciate that the EU Malaria Fund will support the COVID-19 research, as it represents, at the moment, the most important worldwide sanitary challenge that requires huge common efforts”.
The EIB and WHO support the development of the EU Malaria Fund. “Together with WHO’s technical expertise we are confident of accelerating the development of new and innovative tools. The first investment of the EU Malaria Fund in Achilles will meaningfully advance the renewed efforts in our fight against Malaria” said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the World Health Organisation’s Global Malaria Programme.
The EUMF is a public-private partnership between the European Union, international organisations, corporations, and organized civic society, providing a novel funding instrument to address market failures in infectious diseases with significant relevance to public health globally. Further information can be found at www.controlMalaria.eu.
The video of the event can be found at https://www.controlmalaria.eu/news
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200619005083/en/
Contact information
Achilles Vaccines:
Eleonora Cossa
e.cossa@vrelations.it
+ 39 347.7467250
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Transition Industries Signs Strategic Agreements for the Pacifico Mexinol Project, the Largest Standalone Ultra-Low Carbon Chemical Production Facility in the World30.6.2025 21:30:00 EEST | Press release
Transition Industries LLC, a developer of world-scale, net-zero carbon emissions methanol and green hydrogen projects in North America, held a signing event for an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with the consortium of Samsung E&A Co., Ltd. (Samsung E&A), Grupo Samsung E&A Mexico, S.A. de C.V., and Techint Engineering and Construction for the Pacifico Mexinol project located in Ahome, Sinaloa, Mexico, which is contingent upon the fulfillment of customary conditions precedent and obtainment of all required approvals. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250630940954/en/ MAIRE group’s technology division NextChem, through its subsidiary KT TECH SpA, also signed a Basic Engineering, Critical and Proprietary Equipment Supply Agreement with Samsung E&A in connection with its proprietary NX AdWinMethanol®Zero technology supply to the project. Transition Industries is jointly developing the Pacif
Westinghouse and ITER Sign a $180M Contract to Advance Nuclear Fusion30.6.2025 16:45:00 EEST | Press release
Westinghouse Electric Company and ITER signed a contract for $180 million for the assembly of the vacuum vessel for the fusion reactor. This is a key milestone in the construction of the ITER reactor, leading the way toward the use of fusion as a practical future source of reliable carbon-free energy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250630497810/en/ The ITER Tokamak pit with the two vacuum vessel sector modules installed. Westinghouse has participated in the fabrication of the sectors of the vacuum vessel, as part of the Fusion for Energy (F4E) Consortium with its partners Ansaldo Nucleare and Walter Tosto. Westinghouse will be responsible for completing the vacuum vessel which is ITER’s most critical component: a hermetically sealed, double-walled steel container that will house the fusion plasma. When all the vacuum vessel sectors are in place, Westinghouse will start the most intensive stage of ITER assembl
Monetate Acquires SiteSpect to Deliver AI-Native Personalization and Testing at Enterprise Scale30.6.2025 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Monetate, the leading AI-driven personalization platform, today announced it has acquired SiteSpect, a leader in A/B testing, to drive next-generation digital experience optimization. This acquisition accelerates Monetate’s vision to deliver intelligent, intentional, and individualized experiences at scale, powered by agentic AI and backed by the industry’s most advanced, enterprise-grade infrastructure. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250630514541/en/ The combination of Monetate’s real-time personalization and SiteSpect’s zero-flicker testing will yield an industry-first solution for enterprise-grade personalization, testing, and optimization. For the first time, global ecommerce and digital experience leaders can access unified client-side and server-side experimentation with full personalization capabilities in a single solution, designed for scalability and regulatory compliance. Monetate is now the only e
SS&C Blue Prism Recognized as a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ RPA Leader for the Seventh Consecutive Year30.6.2025 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSNC) today announced that SS&C Blue Prism has been recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Robotic Process Automation (RPA). “We’re delighted SS&C Blue Prism has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Robotic Process Automation for the seventh year running,” said Bill Stone, CEO and Chairman of SS&C Technologies. “SS&C Blue Prism combines market-leading RPA and orchestration technologies with the latest artificial intelligence so organizations can tackle more complex tasks and dynamic business processes. We’ve scaled to more than 2,700 digital workers and AI agents across our own operations, resulting in over $200 million in annual savings. With SS&C leading the charge on deployment, customers can be confident in rolling out SS&C’s automation solutions securely, effectively, and responsibly.” More than 2,800 companies worldwide leverage SS&C Blue Prism for AI-powered automation, helping organizations delive
Takeda Announces U.S. FDA Approval of GAMMAGARD LIQUID ERC, the Only Ready-to-Use Liquid Immunoglobulin Therapy with Low Immunoglobulin A (IgA) Content 130.6.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Takeda(TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GAMMAGARD LIQUID ERC [immune globulin infusion (human)] with less than or equal to 2 µg/mL IgA in a 10% solution, the only ready-to-use liquid immunoglobulin (IG) therapy with low immunoglobulin A (IgA) content, as replacement therapy for people two years of age and older with primary immunodeficiency (PI). As a ready-to-use liquid, GAMMAGARD LIQUID ERC may help ease the administration burden for patients and their health care providers by eliminating the need for reconstitution and can be administered intravenously or subcutaneously.1 “The approval of GAMMAGARD LIQUID ERC reinforces our commitment to supporting individualized treatment approaches for people with primary immunodeficiency, including a therapeutic option that has the lowest IgA content of any ready-to-use liquid immunoglobulin therapy, and can be administered intravenously or subcutaneously,” said Kristina Allikmets, s
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom