Two forms of Leishmania parasites, flagellated promastigotes found in sandfly and laboratory media, and non-flagellated amastigotes found inside macrophages. 3D illustration
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative announced they have signed an agreement to collaborate in conducting preclinical and phase I clinical studies on drug candidate compounds that had been discovered among the aminopyrazole compound class, aimed at developing an innovative drug for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
The project has been selected for funding by the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (“GHIT”). GHIT is an international public private partnership fund that facilitates global R&D partnerships for the discovery and development of new health technologies needed in developing countries. The Takeda-DNDi partnership will receive a sum of approximately 600 million yen from GHIT in support of its studies.
In July 2015, Takeda and DNDi launched a programme to collaborate in the “Lead Optimization Programme” aimed at identifying the best compound among aminopyrazole series for developing an innovative drug for the treatment of VL. The ultimate aim of this project is to develop a new drug that is orally active, safe, effective, short-course, field-adapted and will ideally be administered in combination with another oral treatment to avoid resistance as much as possible.
Through this Programme with GHIT, Takeda and DNDi will build partnerships and create innovative approaches towards improving access to medicines, and thereby contribute to the development of treatments for “Neglected Tropical Diseases”.
Over 1 billion people around the world in over 90 countries are at risk of leishmaniasis, which is transmitted by the bite of a sandfly. VL is the most serious form of leishmaniasis, causing fever, weight loss, spleen and lever enlargement, and anemia and, if left untreated, death; 50,000 to 90,000 new cases and cose to 30,000 deaths are reported a year. Another form of the disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), with 600,000 to 1 million new cases every year, can lead to disfiguration and stigmatization for people affected. Current treatments remain costly, difficult to administer, not adapted to field conditions in endemic countries, of too long duration, or poorly tolerated.
In addition to this partnership, in 2015 Takeda and DNDi partnered to start the “Neglected Tropical Diseases Drug Discovery Booster” project, designed to accelerate and expand the discovery of new drugs for treating leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. The Drug Discovery Booster project has also been confirmed as a recipient of funding from GHIT, commencing April 2018.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
