By Lexi Elo
The details of the discovery, properties and mechanism of action of a novel antimalarial compound, DDD107498, published in the journalNature.1 DDD107498, is believed to have the potential to treat malaria patients in a single dose, including those with malaria parasites resistant to current medications, and help reduce the transmission of the parasite.
The compound was identified through collaboration between the University of Dundee’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
This discovery comes as malaria has continued to remain a serious public health concern in Nigeria with estimates suggesting that everybody remains at risk in today’s Nigeria. With the economic loss due to malaria believed to be in excess of $12 billion yearly in Africa, about $5.1 billion is required yearly to fight malaria, to increase awareness. According to the World Malaria Report of 2014, which chronicled what happened in 2013, it is just about $3 million that was used by government bodies to fight malaria.
Professor Ian Gilbert, Head of Chemistry at the Drug Discovery Unit, who led the team that discovered the compound revealed that DDD107498 has the potential to treat malaria with a single dose, prevent the spread of malaria from infected people, and protect a person from developing the disease in the first place. According to Ian, “There is still some way to go before the compound can be given to patients. However we are very excited by the progress that we have made.”
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Dr. David Reddy, MMV’s CEO revealed that “DDD107498 is an exciting compound since it holds the promise to not only treat but also protect these vulnerable populations. The collaboration to identify and progress the compound, led by the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee, drew on MMV’s network of scientists from Melbourne to San Diego. The publication of the research is an important step and a clear testament to the power of partnership.”
Dr. Kevin Read, joint leader of the project, also based at the Drug Discovery Unit at Dundee, said, “New drugs are urgently needed to treat malaria, as resistance to the current gold-standard antimalarial drug is now considered a real threat. The compound we have discovered works in a different way to all other antimalarial medicines on the market or in clinical development, which means that it has great potential to work against current drug-resistant parasites. It targets part of the machinery that makes proteins within the parasite that causes malaria.”
“The need for new antimalarial drugs is more urgent than ever before, with emerging strains of the parasite now showing resistance against the best available drugs,” said Dr Michael Chew from the Wellcome Trust, which provides funding for the Dundee DDU and MMV. “These strains are already present at the Myanmar-Indian border and it’s a race against time to stop resistance spreading to the most vulnerable populations in Africa. The discovery of this new antimalarial agent, which has shown remarkable potency against multiple stages of the malaria lifecycle, is an exciting prospect in the hunt for viable new treatments.”
The latest World Malaria Report shows that the incidence of malaria continues to go down in Africa. For instance the latest report revealed that by the end of 2015, nine countries in Africa will be able to achieve 75 per cent reduction in cases of malaria
Till date, malaria is believed to be responsible for about 60 percent of hospital visits, 30 per cent of admissions, 25 percent of child mortality and 30 percent of infant mortality.