Joint against malaria

European Investment Bank, European Commission and Investitionsbank Berlin inaugurate EUR70 million fund

Berlin, Luxembourg (ots) - Today, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the
European Commission and Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) announced the first
closing of their EU Malaria Fund (http://www.controlmalaria.eu) . The European
Commission and the European Investment Bank are investing an initial EUR 64
million into the fund, which aims to bridge the gap between molecule and market
for feasible and affordable innovative solutions to prevent and treat malaria.
It is complemented by investment from IBB, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Fondazione Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, Jacques und Gloria Gossweiler Stiftung,
Invethos AG, FINDdx, and Novartis AG.

"If we are lucky, our fund can be a life-saver for hundreds and thousands of
people every year." said Ambroise Fayolle (https://www.eib.org/en/about/governan
ce-and-structure/statutory-bodies/management_committee/ambroise-fayolle.htm) ,
EIB Vice President in charge of health.

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture,
Education and Youth, said: "We are joining forces with other investors to
protect health and save lives. The new EU Malaria Fund is working with a total
EU contribution of more than EUR110 million to boost research efforts and speed
up market solutions against this preventable and deadly disease. This is an
example of how key global players can come together to fight infectious diseases
such as malaria and bring health technologies to those who need them most."

"We're looking forward to working closely with our partners to find innovative
solutions to prevent and treat malaria in the future," said Dr. Jürgen Allerkamp
, Chairman of the Board, Investitionsbank Berlin
(https://www.ibb.de/en/homepage/homepage.html) .

"This is a decisive instrument that could potentially be leveraged in other
disease areas with similar underlying market failure," adds Holm Keller,
Chairman of kENUP Foundation (http://www.kenup.eu) and Managing Director of the
EU Malaria Fund.

The instrument will finance companies through venture debt. The first two
investments earmarked by the fund are expected to go to Italian AchilleS
Vaccines (https://www.achillesvaccines.com/) and to Austrian Themis Bioscience
GmbH (https://www.themisbio.com/) .

Press Contact:

Tobias Mac-Lean
[phone]
[e-mail]

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/127019/4613343
OTS: kENUP Foundation