Institute of Tropical Medicine - USP

What Institute of Tropical Medicine - USP does

The Instituto de Medicina Tropical (IMT) is a specialized interdepartmental research and education institute within the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), physically located on the FMUSP campus in the Butantã region of São Paulo, Brazil. Founded in 1959, the institute conducts research, graduate-level training, and clinical services in tropical medicine, infectious diseases, and public health, serving researchers, medical professionals, and students in these fields.

IMT's core activities span academic research, graduate education, and specialized clinical services. Its research portfolio includes vaccine development — most notably a 2025 program using Virus-Like Particle (VLP) technology to develop a Zika vaccine that has shown promising results in murine testing and does not incorporate pathogen genetic material. The institute operates Medical Investigation Laboratories (LIMs), offers master's and doctoral programs in medical sciences and tropical medicine research, runs a dedicated leprosy (Hansen's disease) clinic, and publishes the Revista Clinics scientific journal. Its affiliation with FMUSP — described in the input as one of the most prestigious medical schools in Latin America — provides institutional credibility, shared clinical and laboratory infrastructure, and access to a broad academic talent pool.

IMT does not operate on a commercial revenue model. It is a state-funded academic institution operating under the Brazilian public education system via USP, with revenue, funding rounds, and commercial pricing not publicly disclosed. The institute's primary outputs are research publications, trained graduate researchers, clinical services (notably the Hansen's disease clinic), and its scientific journal. Outreach is conducted through the FMUSP web presence and organic social media channels — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn — under the FMUSP brand.

Name

Institute of Tropical Medicine - USP

Legal name

Instituto de Medicina Tropical

Website

https://imt.usp.br

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Instituto de Medicina Tropical (IMT) is a 1959-founded academic research institute within the Universidade de São Paulo's Faculty of Medicine, conducting tropical medicine research, graduate education, vaccine development, and clinical services for the medical research community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Medical Research (Tropical Medicine)

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (62151)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAAAEAC

Infectious Disease & Pandemic Preparedness Vaccines (emerging pathogens)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Biotechnology & Biologics/Vaccines & Immunization Biologics

SECONDARYHLAIAEAE

Travel & Tropical Disease Vaccines

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals/Vaccines

SECONDARYHLAIACAM

Infectious Disease Specialty Pharmaceuticals (Non-vaccine)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals/Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Keywords

• Tropical medicine research
• Infectious disease research
• Vaccine development
• Medical graduate education
• Public health research

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT) is an interdepartmental academic research center within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo (FMUSP/USP) that conducts basic and clinical research in tropical and infectious diseases, delivers graduate-level academic programs (master's and doctoral), operates advanced medical research laboratories (LIMs), provides specialized clinical care such as the Hanseníase (leprosy) clinic, and publishes the Revista Clinics scientific journal. Its research portfolio includes vaccine development using Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) technology, exemplified by its 2025 Zika vaccine research program.

Product overview

The Instituto de Medicina Tropical (IMT) is a specialized interdepartmental center within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo (FMUSP). Rather than a commercial product, IMT is an academic medical institute that provides graduate education programs (Pós-graduação), operates medical research laboratories (LIMs), and conducts research in tropical medicine and infectious diseases. The institute offers specialized clinical services including a leprosy clinic and publishes the Revista Clinics academic journal. Research initiatives include vaccine development using Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) technology, as demonstrated in the Zika vaccine research program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Graduate Programs (Pós-graduação) Graduate-level academic programs including master's and doctoral degrees in medical sciences and tropical medicine research, for graduate students and researchers in the field.
• LIMs (Laboratórios de Investigação Médica) Medical research laboratories conducting advanced investigations in tropical diseases and related health conditions, for the medical and scientific research community.
• Clínica de Hanseníase Leprosy clinic providing specialized medical care and treatment for patients with Hansen's disease, delivered within the public university health system.
• Revista Clinics Medical scientific journal published by FMUSP for disseminating research findings in clinical medicine to the broader research community.
• Zika Vaccine Research Program Vaccine research program using Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) technology, focused on Zika and related tropical diseases, aimed at developing vaccines that do not use genetic material from the pathogen.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz): Brazil's leading public health and tropical-medicine research foundation, also a state-funded entity. Directly comparable as a domestically anchored tropical-disease R&D institute with active vaccine programs and clinical operations, and the most natural peer within Brazil.
• Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute: Switzerland-based institute combining tropical-medicine research, education, and services with strong vaccine and infectious-disease programs. Closely matches IMT's combined research-education-clinical service model and tropical-disease mandate.
• Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine: Germany's largest tropical medicine research institute, combining basic research, clinical tropical medicine, and travel medicine. Comparable as a mid-sized European tropical-medicine center with parallel clinical, lab, and education functions.
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: One of the world's leading tropical-medicine and public-health research and graduate education institutions. Comparable in combining tropical-disease R&D, postgraduate training, and clinical research, but operating at significantly larger scale and global footprint.

Regional players

• Butantan Institute (Instituto Butantan): São Paulo state-based producer of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals, geographically co-located with IMT in the Butantã region. Most relevant Brazilian comparator for vaccine manufacturing capability and tropical-disease biologics production.
• Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies: Panama-based tropical-medicine research institute operating in a Latin American context similar to IMT. Comparable scope (tropical disease research, public health, training) but geographically focused on Central America rather than Brazil/South America.

Emerging players

• Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research: University of Ghana-based biomedical research institute with tropical-disease and infectious-disease programs. Comparable as an academic tropical-medicine research unit in a tropical region, though smaller in vaccine-development capacity than IMT.
• Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM, Philippines): Philippines' national tropical-medicine reference laboratory under the Department of Health. Comparable as a government-anchored tropical-disease research and reference lab, though more focused on diagnostics and outbreak response than vaccine development.
• Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU): Thailand-based tropical-medicine research partnership between Mahidol and Oxford universities. Comparable academic tropical-disease research unit with strong field-site network in Southeast Asia, contrasting IMT's single-site Brazilian footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Institut Pasteur: Large, established global research foundation with deep programs in infectious disease, vaccinology, and tropical diseases. Comparable mandate but operates as a broad incumbent with vastly greater resources and a global network versus IMT's single Brazilian site.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FMUSPoficial
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCmiLXu0Pn3noQGpO6Pvdxuw
• Facebookfacebook.com/FMUSPOficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/instituto-de-medicina-tropical-usp
• Instagraminstagram.com/fmusp_oficial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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