The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund announced today a total investment of approximately JPY 1 billion (USD 7.3 million¹) in four R&D projects for the development of vaccine, drug, and diagnostics for malaria and tuberculosis (TB).²

Investment of JPY 800 million (USD 5.5 million¹) in malaria vaccine project

Malaria is a serious infectious disease that affects more than 260 million people and claims approximately 600,000 lives worldwide each year. Over 90% of all malaria cases occur in Africa, with more than 70% of those affected being children under the age of five.³ Malaria is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. While prevention and treatment methods are available, the efficacy of currently available vaccines remains limited, highlighting the urgent need for the development of vaccines with higher efficacy and longer-lasting protection.

To address this challenge, the GHIT Fund has decided to invest JPY 800 million (USD 5.5 million¹) in a malaria vaccine development project currently in the preclinical stage. This project is being led by the European Vaccine Initiative, the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases (RIMD) at Osaka University, the University of Copenhagen, the University of Tübingen, Danish biotechnology company AdaptVac, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., and Nobelpharma Co., Ltd.

This investment is a continuation of previous projects supported by GHIT, which has invested a total of approximately JPY 630 million (USD 4.3 million¹) from 2013 to 2022. The present project aims to develop a vaccine that prevents the proliferation of malaria parasites during the blood-stage of infection. The vaccine is designed to achieve higher efficacy and longer-lasting protection with fewer doses. By reducing manufacturing costs, the project also aims to improve access to vaccines in malaria-endemic regions.

In addition, the GHIT Fund will invest for a total of approximately JPY 260 million (USD 1.8 million¹) in the following three R&D projects:

(1) Target research project for malaria diagnostics by Ehime University and Universiti Malaysia Sabah

(2) Target research project for TB drug by the University of Auckland and the University of Tokyo

(3) Target research project for malaria drug by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), LPIXEL Inc., and University of Dundee

This investment brings four new companies and universities on board. Through collaborations with 190 partners across 39 countries — including 64 Japanese and 126 non-Japanese institutions — we aim to contribute to solving global health challenges and accelerating product development.

Please refer to Appendix 1 for detailed descriptions on these projects and their development stages.

As of July 17, 2025, the GHIT Fund has invested in 37 projects, including 15 discovery projects, 13 preclinical projects, and 9 clinical trials.⁴ The total amount of investments since 2013 is JPY 39.3 billion (USD 271 million¹) (Appendix 2).

¹ USD1 = JPY144.81, the approximate exchange rate on June 30, 2025.

² These awarded projects were selected and approved as new investments from among proposals to RFP2023-002 and RFP2024-001 for the Product Development Platform and the Target Research Platform, which were open for applications from June 2023 to July 2024.

³ WHO: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

⁴ This number includes projects in the registration phase.