Medicines for Malaria Venture and The University of Texas System have divulged dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) (Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of malaria.
In an effort to generate an effective and safer inhibitor, researchers at the University of Cape Town, University of Dundee and Massachusetts Institute of Technology used structure-guided rational design to improve on their previously reported 2,8-diaryl-1,5-naphthyridine inhibitor.
Phase III data from Novartis AG for the malaria treatment Ganlum (KLU-156) show it met the primary endpoint of noninferiority to the current standard of care, Coartem, a combination of artemether and lumefantrine. The results are a step to curbing a problem that has seen rising numbers in recent years.
Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis has identified subtilisin-like protease 1 (PfSUB1) (Plasmodium falciparum) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of malaria.
Malaria continues to exact heavy financial and socioeconomic burdens in several parts of the world, with 249 million cases and more than 630,000 deaths reported in 2022. Two-thirds of malaria-related deaths occur among children younger than 5 years.
Writing in Cell Reports, researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and collaborators have presented a multifaceted analysis and structure-function study of a panel of human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) targeting AMA1 elicited by natural Plasmodium falciparum infection in a malaria-endemic region in Mali.
Two simultaneous but independent studies published in Science identified, by introducing mutants into its genome, the essential and nonessential genes of Plasmodium knowlesi, one of the malaria parasites related to the dreaded Plasmodium vivax. Their results could help in the development and prioritization of antimalarial strategies.
Malaria remains a significant global health challenge, causing over 600,000 deaths annually despite existing prevention and treatment measures. Current vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Plasmodium falciparum, such as RTS,S/AS01 and R21, primarily target the central repeat region of the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) but have shown limited efficacy in completely preventing infection.
