Vestergaard: a double dividend on malaria R&D

The fight against malaria is far from over. With 263 million cases reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023, the resurgence of malaria in endemic countries across Africa puts the whole world at risk. In the U.S. alone, around 2,000 cases are imported every year, and locally acquired cases have started to emerge in several U.S. states.

Since the turn of the century, dramatic progress against malaria has been made, thanks in large part to the role of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), which have helped avert 2.2 billion malaria cases and save 12.7 million lives. But recent challenges jeopardizing this progress include the rise of insecticide resistance and a widening funding gap that is putting critical new research and development at risk.

Vestergaard is a social enterprise engineering innovative fabrics that protect people and help communities to thrive. Their flagship PermaNet® has accounted for 1 in 3 mosquito nets shipped worldwide since 2000. Following the 2023 WHO approval of new-generation, dual active-ingredient nets designed to combat insecticide resistance, the company scaled up in record time to produce over 40 million PermaNet® Dual nets within a year. These nets are now helping get progress back on track, providing a solid foundation on which additional interventions can be layered.

With the sharp shift in focus from aid to investment, value for money in global health has never been more important. At the same time, continued innovation in ITNs is urgently needed to stay ahead of the emergence of resistance and protect the efficacy of these life-saving tools for as long as possible.

Vestergaard is committed to accelerating innovation while helping to build scientific and manufacturing capacity in malaria-endemic countries as they advance towards a self-sustaining future. The company's U.S.-led research and development is complemented by a fully-funded vector control research lab in Ghana that operates as a public–private partnership with the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. Regional manufacturing capabilities in Nigeria are also being built in partnership with the Nigerian Government.

While dual active-ingredient ITNs like PermaNet® Dual are acknowledged to be the most cost-effective indoor intervention for malaria, Vestergaard is going one step further with a unique "double dividend" approach. Malaria innovation funded by donor countries, including the U.S., is now being applied to solve urgent agricultural threats in the U.S. that are threatening communities and livelihoods. As such, mosquito net innovation is delivering full-circle value to the U.S. economy.