In the 2010 second edition of WHO's guidelines for the treatment of malaria, the relatively new fixed dose combination dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is included as one of the recommended artemisinin combination therapies. However, experimental testing demonstrates that, due to its intrinsic chemical instability, dihydroartemisinin is not suitable to be used in pharmaceutical formulations. In addition, data show that the currently available dihydroartemisinin preparations fail to meet the internationally accepted stability requirements. At a time when many efforts aim to ban counterfeit and substandard drugs from the malaria market, the obvious question rises how WHO and public-private partnerships, such as Medicine for Malaria venture (MMV), can support the production and marketing of anti-malarial drugs that do not even meet the International Pharmacopoeia requirements?
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/9/1/212
Showing posts with label Medicines for Malaria Venture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicines for Malaria Venture. Show all posts
Monday, 9 August 2010
Thursday, 20 May 2010
MALARIA: Research on chemicals
Geneva, 20 May 2010. In an unprecedented move, data from three new projects supported by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) have been made available in the public domain. The first, conducted by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has identified promising leads to develop new antimalarials. The second, the screening of compounds of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) has been released to the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). The third, conducted by Prof. Kip Guy at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, will also be released to the EMBL-EBI this week.
The GSK research comes from a year-long screening of more than 2 million compounds in GSK’s chemical library to identify those that could inhibit the malaria parasite, P. falciparum, and reports on an analysis of over 13,500 compounds that showed greatest activity. The largest group of compounds whose mode of action is understood was kinase inhibitors. The study also identified compounds that might be inhibiting processes in human red blood cells necessary for the parasite's survival. This opens up a novel possibility of fighting infection by halting these processes rather than stopping the malaria parasite itself.
All these data are available online through the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) http://www.ebi.ac.uk/chemblntd/download, Collaborative Drug Discovery http://www.collaborativedrug.com/ and PubChem from the National Library of Medicine (NIH) http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ . Together with added intelligence from a publication in Nature[1], scientists globally have been given thousands of chemical starting points to stimulate their research into this deadly disease.
Data from part of an earlier screen from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation are also being reported. Over 800,000 compounds from external sources were screened, and over 5,600 compounds have confirmed activity on the parasite. The chemical structures of these compounds, the 50% inhibitory concentrations against P. falciparum growth, and general cytotoxicity have also recently been released to the EMBL-EBI.
The GSK research comes from a year-long screening of more than 2 million compounds in GSK’s chemical library to identify those that could inhibit the malaria parasite, P. falciparum, and reports on an analysis of over 13,500 compounds that showed greatest activity. The largest group of compounds whose mode of action is understood was kinase inhibitors. The study also identified compounds that might be inhibiting processes in human red blood cells necessary for the parasite's survival. This opens up a novel possibility of fighting infection by halting these processes rather than stopping the malaria parasite itself.
All these data are available online through the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) http://www.ebi.ac.uk/chemblntd/download, Collaborative Drug Discovery http://www.collaborativedrug.com/ and PubChem from the National Library of Medicine (NIH) http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ . Together with added intelligence from a publication in Nature[1], scientists globally have been given thousands of chemical starting points to stimulate their research into this deadly disease.
Data from part of an earlier screen from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation are also being reported. Over 800,000 compounds from external sources were screened, and over 5,600 compounds have confirmed activity on the parasite. The chemical structures of these compounds, the 50% inhibitory concentrations against P. falciparum growth, and general cytotoxicity have also recently been released to the EMBL-EBI.
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Malaria in pregnancy: preventive medication
Pfizer and the Medicines for Malaria Venture have agreed to co-develop a fixed-dose combination therapy of azithromycin dihydrate (AZ) and chloroquine phosphate (CA) for the intermittent preventive treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnacy (IPTp). Phase III trials are expected to start in Africa later this year and include up to 5,000 participants.
The agreement between Pfizer and MMV builds on two years of informal collaborative research by the organizations together with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Under the terms of the formal deal, Pfizer will seek marketing approval for the drug combination in selected malaria-endemic African countries and will work with the MMV to introduce the therapy in relevant territories. MMV will also provide support and advocacy on several levels including the development of a patient education campaign and recommendations on strategies for registration in malaria-endemic countries. The LSHTM will coordinate clinical trials of the AZ-CQ combination.
Pfizer says that WHO figures estimate some 30 million pregnant women in malaria-endemic African regions are at risk of the disease every year. “Pfizer believes that an affordable price for public sector sales of the medicine in endemic countries, if approved, is an important step towards increasing access and safe intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women,” remarks Jean-Michel Halfon, president and GM of Pfizer’s emerging markets business.
http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=80849261
The agreement between Pfizer and MMV builds on two years of informal collaborative research by the organizations together with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Under the terms of the formal deal, Pfizer will seek marketing approval for the drug combination in selected malaria-endemic African countries and will work with the MMV to introduce the therapy in relevant territories. MMV will also provide support and advocacy on several levels including the development of a patient education campaign and recommendations on strategies for registration in malaria-endemic countries. The LSHTM will coordinate clinical trials of the AZ-CQ combination.
Pfizer says that WHO figures estimate some 30 million pregnant women in malaria-endemic African regions are at risk of the disease every year. “Pfizer believes that an affordable price for public sector sales of the medicine in endemic countries, if approved, is an important step towards increasing access and safe intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women,” remarks Jean-Michel Halfon, president and GM of Pfizer’s emerging markets business.
http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=80849261
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