18.11.2011
Potentially critical breakthrough in the quest to eliminate malaria
A new class of antimalarial compounds known as the imidazolopiperazines (IZPs) has been discovered by Novartis scientists in collaboration with a number of external research partners, which holds promise as a next generation treatment for malaria if confirmed. Unlike current anti-malarials which only target blood infections, this new class of treatment acts on both blood and liver infections. This is a crucial advance as once the infection is cleared from the blood, reservoirs of parasites can linger in the liver causing relapse and hampering efforts toward complete elimination of the disease.
The discovery, published 17 November in Science Express (doi:10.1126/science.1211936) was made by scientists from Novartis, the Scripps Research Institute and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, with support from The Wellcome Trust, Singapore Economic Development Board, and Medicines for Malaria Venture. An incredibly productive collaborative effort, this is the second new class of antimalarials discovered by this same group in the last two years. We are also proud to note that the results and methodology of this successful study have been released to the public domain with the aim of facilitating global discovery efforts.
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