Researchers are testing a new drug that has show promise during trials. The new anti-malaria treatment has shown promise in tackling some of the emerging drug-resistant strains of the disease. This has made the race to find a treatment a priority.
Malaria is an infectious disease mosquito-transmitted disease, which is estimated to kill more than half a million people annually.
According to the study published in the journal Nature, the discovery of the compound DDD107498 has demonstrated potential in addressing "a variety of clinical needs, including single-dose treatment, transmission blocking and chemoprotection."
The compound, developed through a collaboration between the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) of the University of Dundee and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), has the potential to treats malaria using a single dose, including the cases where malaria parasites are resistant to existing medications, wrote the University in its press release.
"The publication describes the discovery and profiling of this exciting new compound," said the leader of the group, Professor Ian Gilbert, Head of Chemistry at the Drug Discovery Unit. "It reveals 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. 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."
The process entailed screening over 4,700 compounds and DDD107498 is a breakthrough because it has shown the potential to not only treat the disease with a single dose but also prevent the spread of the fatal disease.
STV News reports that DDD107498 is undergoing further safety testing and could be entering clinical human trials by next year.
"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," quoted the publication of Dr Michael Chew from the Wellcome Trust, which is providing funding for both DDU and MMV.
Currently strains are present at the Myanmar-Indian border that are resistant to the best drugs available. The new anti-malarial agent is said to be an "exciting prospect" as it has shown potency against multiple stages of the disease's lifecycle.
