Project
Infections with parasitic worms (helminths) continue to cause a massive global health burden. Yet, effective vaccines to enable control and elimination of helminth infections do not exist. Primary reasons for this are that target discovery approaches are not well developed, protective immune…
Worm infections (helminthiases) affect around 1.5 billion people worldwide, making them one of the most prevalent infections in humans. Worm infections can cause chronic and debilitating health problems, such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), loiasis (African eye worm),…
Parasitic worm infections are still very common, particularly among children living in areas with limited access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Additionally, this age group is at highest risk of morbidity associated with chronic worm infections. Current disease control efforts…
Approximately ten percent of the world's population is at risk of schistosomiasis, a neglected, tropical disease caused by species of the helminth Schistosoma. For the past 40 years, control of schistosomiasis has depended on the widespread use of a single drug, praziquantel. Despite its good…
To target helminth elimination, a drug research and development (R&D) pipeline is needed to provide new chemotherapeutics that effectively eliminate or sterilize adult worms, thus bringing about the paradigm shift necessary to reach the 2030 SDG goals on health.
Our consortium proposes to establish…
The overarching goal of this project is to assemble for the first time key data on the safety and efficacy and pharmacokinetics of moxidectin for the treatment of strongyloidiasis. We propose to conduct a Phase 2a The project consists of three objectives:
1. What is the efficacy and safety of…
The aim of my 4-year research project is to identify one or several antischistosomal drug development candidates targeting the haemoglobin degradation pathway and/or other mechanisms with favourable physico-chemical and drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) properties. My proposed research…
Many new methods in drug discovery originate from the field of microfluidics, which also include innovative methods to monitor the status of cells or tissues by means of electric impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This fact has motivated the Helminth Drug Development Unit (HDDU) at the Swiss Tropical and…
Background:
Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) – roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), the hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus), and threadworm (Strongyloides stercoralis) – affect more than 1 billion people worldwide with the highest infection rates…
The recommended anthelmintics show low efficacy in a single-dose regimen against Trichuris trichiura. Moxidectin, a new treatment for river blindness, might complement the drug armamentarium for the treatment an control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis. However, its efficacy against T trichiura has…
The overall objective of the investment is to establish a surveillance system that globally monitors the eficacy of drugs and spread of AR in STH programs, and hence prevailing the success of MDA programs to eliminate STH as a public problem by 2020. The specific objectives are
(i) the validation of…
This research project is aligned with priorities of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, namely integrating drug discovery and drug development with modeling. Aiming to strengthen capacity at the institute for model based research and development of existing and novel drugs we propose to…
The long-term goal of this proposal is to discover a new orally active single-dose antischistosomal drug. The objective of this proposal is to identify one or more antischistosomal drug development candidates. To accomplish this objective, we will optimize four promising and structurally diverse…
A-HERO brings together different streams of advanced scientific inquiry, ranging from drug discovery to drug development and combines them in a logical way. The project aims at advancing drug options against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases. Several steps along the drug discovery…
Schistosomes, parasitic blood flukes, cause schistosomiasis, a chronic disease which can lead to anemia, severe damage of organs, reduced growth and, at worst, to death. Infection occurs if schistosomes larvae penetrate uncovered skin which is exposed to contaminated water. Therefore, this disease…