A new Africa-Europe research programme has launched to accelerate the development of malaria treatments that could cure uncomplicated malaria with a single dose. 

The West African Network for Clinical Trials of Antimalarial Drugs (WANECAM3) brings together 11 partners across six African and four European countries, including the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The programme combines expertise in clinical research, drug development and malaria treatment to evaluate promising new antimalarial medicines.  

Researchers will evaluate novel non-artemisinin treatments through Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, with the ambition of developing safe and effective single-dose treatments for uncomplicated malaria.  

Most currently recommended malaria treatments require patients to take several doses. This can make completing treatment more difficult, particularly in settings where access to healthcare is limited. Developing a treatment that can be taken as a single dose could simplify treatment and improve adherence, while potentially reducing the risk of drug resistance developing.  

The programme comes as resistance to existing antimalarial medicines poses an increasing threat to malaria control and elimination. Partial resistance to artemisinin derivatives, which are a mainstay of current malaria treatment, has been observed for two decades in South-East Asia and more recently in parts of Africa.  

Dr Khalid Beshir, Associate Professor at LSHTM, leads WANECAM3’s work package investigating the emergence and evolution of antimalarial drug resistance. Working with African partners, LSHTM will use molecular and genomic tools to track genetic changes in malaria parasites and help assess how these changes affect their response to existing and investigational treatments. 

Khalid Beshir said: “New medicines are urgently needed, but understanding how malaria parasites respond to them is essential to protecting their long-term effectiveness. By combining genetic analysis with laboratory studies of drug susceptibility, we aim to detect early signs of resistance and provide evidence to guide the future use of these treatments.” 

Alongside evaluating new medicines, WANECAM3 will strengthen clinical research capacity and scientific leadership across Africa. Research teams in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Mali and Uganda are involved, with Ethiopian partners participating in dedicated capacity-building activities.  

The programme will also support monitoring of antimalarial drug resistance and research to better understand how resistance emerges and spreads, as well as the mechanisms of malaria transmission.  

WANECAM3 builds on the WANECAM network, established in 2010, which has contributed to the evaluation of several antimalarial treatments while strengthening scientific and clinical research capacity in Africa.  

The programme is co-funded by the European Union under Global Health EDCTP3, Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture.