Scientists develop a single-dose, long acting drug against malaria

Malaria is one of the most common parasite infections caused by mosquitoes. And if statistics are to be believed, around 600,000 individuals mostly kids die every year due to malaria. While the first

By: Editorial Team | | Updated: July 19, 2015 4:19 pm

Malaria is one of the most common parasite infections caused by mosquitoes. And if statistics are to be believed, around 600,000 individuals mostly kids die every year due to malaria. While the first line of treatment till date was to use chloroquine drug, it has lead to the development of a chloroquine-resistant mosquitoes. The treatment and pest control programs have been implemented from few years, the fact that resistance to Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites, proved the the present medications are not working against the parasites. And thus, the new treatment approach aims at using a combination of medications to treat malaria.

Hence to deal with this parasite-resistance, researchers have developed a new, long-acting malaria drug that helps in the treatment of malaria in a single dose.

DSM265 — new drug to treat malaria

DSM265 is a triazolopyrimidine-based inhibitor of the pyrimidine biosynthetic enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). It is the first DHODH inhibitor to reach clinical development for treatment of malaria.

Identified by Griffith University scientists, this drug is known to thwart drug resistance in the parasite that causes the disease. The study is carried out to determine the effectiveness of DSM265 for the treatment and prevention of malaria. The drug is targeted to kill Plasmodium falciparum in the blood and liver. The drug has been declared as a potential drug combination partner for either single-dose malaria treatment or once weekly doses for ongoing disease prevention.

How does the drug work?

The drug DSM265 acts by attacking the Plasmodium’s ability to ssynthesise the nucleotide precursors required for the synthesis of DNA and RNA. The currently avialable drugs require daily dosage and are inacitve against the parasite in the liver stage. Which is not the case of this drug and hence, has an upper hand in the treatment of malaria.

According to the study, continued progress in combating malaria requires the development of new and easy way to administer drug combinations with broad-ranging activity against all manifestations of the disease. Avery noted that having compounds which are working through new mechanisms is critical for overcoming the ever growing concerns with drug resistance. The study is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Source: ANI

Photo source: Getty images

Published : July 19, 2015 10:31 am | Updated:July 19, 2015 4:19 pm

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