Scientists have developed a new antimalarial compound that may be able to treat current infections and protect against future ones.

A researcher at the University of Dundee’s Drug Discovery Unit in the United Kingdom and one of the leaders of the study, Kevin Read, said clinical trials of the compound should begin within a year.

According to a study published yesterday in Nature, just one dose of the compound could be used to fight malaria infections in patients and increase their immunity against the parasite, according to the researchers.

He said, “The chemical compound of this potential drug is different from any other antimalarial compound in that it interacts at many different stages of the parasite life cycle.

Colin Sutherland, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stated that if these are successful, the team hopes the drug will be available in five to six years.

“The compound interferes with some of the machinery involved in protein synthesis in the parasite at different stages of its life cycle,” Read said.

“ As the chemical remains active for a very long time within the body, he adds, it could also become a protective agent, preventing healthy people from contracting the disease.

Malaria kills more than half a million people a year, according to the World Health Organization, mostly children under five years of age.

The WHO reports that progress in medical research, coupled with better prevention, has nearly halved malaria deaths since 2000.

But the emergence of drug-resistant parasites is an increasingly pressing issue, signalling a need for novel treatments, Read says.

The compound, currently named DDD107498, was originally discovered in 2010. Since then, it has undergone testing along with dozens of other potential antimalarial compounds as part of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a public-private partnership that includes the University of Dundee.

“The compound is currently going through the final stages of preclinical safety testing,” Read says.

According to the researchers, the compound would be used with an existing antimalarial drug to protect against the spread of resistance. Since the compound is fairly simple to make, Read says that one dose of the final product should cost about US$1, similar to existing treatments.

http://leadership.ng/news/442383/scientists-develop-single-dose-drug-to-treat-malaria

Good work.

Good news

I pray malaria will not develop anti drugs to resist the drug.

This is no breakthrough. The only breakthrough I'd celebrate is scientists finally creating a malaria vaccine.

The only advantage I see that this new drug will have over the already existing drugs is the single dosing which will enhance patient compliance thus leading to better therapeutic outcomes.