Government of Equatorial Guinea and Oil Companies Agree to $48.5 Million Funding of Malaria Vaccine Development Program with Sanaria Inc.
ROCKVILLE, Md., June 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea announced an agreement with industry partners, Marathon Oil Corporation, Noble Energy Inc. and AMPCO, to sponsor the clinical development of Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccine against malaria, including a series of clinical trials from 2015 until 2018…
…As a leader among African governments in support for malaria vaccine research and development, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, through the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare and Mines, Industry and Energy, and its partners in the oil and gas sector, will invest more than $48.5 million USD to support Sanaria Inc., a U.S. biotechnology company, in its efforts to develop and license a PfSPZ vaccine for protection against malaria. The Government of Equatorial Guinea is the major financial contributor in this initiative, with a commitment of $36.75 million USD, and the industry partners are investing $11.75 million USD. This is a unique international partnership that also involves the Ifakara Health Institute from Tanzania, the U.S. non-governmental organization, Medical Care Development International, the Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute, and the La Paz Malabo Medical Center, which is run by a team of Equatoguineans and Israelis. “The power and grandness of a country is not measured by its size nor its population, but rather by the size of its citizen’s hearts,” noted H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea, on this unique partnership….