An international team of researchers led by a University of Nebraska
Medical Center College of Pharmacy faculty member, recently received recognition
for its work in the development of a compound that shows promise in the
development of a cheaper, more effective anti-malarial drug with fewer
side effects.
The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland,
chose the UNMC-led project as its best and most successful of its 12 funded
projects. UNMC is collaborating with researchers from Monash University
in Australia, the Swiss Tropical Institute and F. Hoffmann-LaRoche in Switzerland.
The team shares a three-year, $3.3 million grant provided by MMV.
Speaking at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Conference
on Global Healthcare and Development, Christopher Hentschel, chief executive
officer of MMV, announced that the team had been selected as the MMV partnership
achieving the most promising research results in 2001 for its groundbreaking
work.
This group has succeeded in taking the well established anti-malarial
warhead found in an ancient Chinese herbal remedy and has developed it
into a chemical series that is now very drug like and amenable to modern
drug optimization techniques and to industrial scale-up, said Simon Campbell,
who chairs the MMV Expert Scientific Advisory Committee. In animal studies,
these compounds essentially cure malaria with one dose. Compounds that
have not yet progressed to clinical development are by definition high
risk, and it will still take many years before the work delivers a registered
drug, but the extraordinary progresses made by this group and the compelling
animal data potentially herald a new class of anti-malarial drugs.
MMV is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ExxonMobil
Corporation, the Global Forum for Health Research, the International Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association, the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation,
the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,
the United Kingdom Department for International Development, the World
Bank, the World Health Organization, Roll Back Malaria, and the UNDP/World
Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases.
UNMC developed a unique class of compounds that is highly effective,
long-lasting and acts rapidly in mouse models against the parasite that
causes malaria in humans. UNMCs role in the venture is to make the compounds,
purify them and work with other team members who test the safety and potential
of the compounds. The team hopes to begin clinical trials in humans within
the next few years.
We have some very exciting compounds, said Jonathan Vennerstrom, Ph.D.,
associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the UNMC College of Pharmacy
and principal investigator of the grant. We hope its the next aspirin
for malaria.
Though now the malaria epidemic seems like a world away, in places like
Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the disease kills more than 1
million people each year, most of them children and pregnant women, according
to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, an estimated 300 to
500 million new cases of malaria are diagnosed each year. More than 90
percent of all malaria cases occur in Africa.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says malaria could
reemerge in the U.S. due to the malaria parasite building up resistance
to current drugs, environmental changes and increased air travel. American
travelers and military personnel who travel to countries where malaria
is prevalent are at risk.
In the 1840s, malaria was a major cause of 600 deaths among Mormons
living in Omahas Florence area. In 1914, an estimated 600,000 cases of
malaria occurred in the United States. Today, malaria is rare in the U.S.
due to urbanization, improved sanitation, housing, nutrition and living
standards, as well as eradication of mosquitoes with insecticides beginning
in the 1940s.
The UNMC-led team has identified several anti-malarial compounds in
a new class of chemical structures. Its work has been called spectacular
by the WHO. The team also has applied for a patent on the compound.
Dr. Vennerstrom, whos been studying malaria for 17 years, said he became
aware of the disease while growing up in Ethiopia while his parents taught
at mission schools.
With the exception of tuberculosis, malaria kills more people than
any other infectious disease, said Dr. Vennerstrom who took anti-malarial
drugs from the age of seven until he was 16 years old. He and his parents,
who are missionaries, lived for nine years in Addis Ababa, the highlands
of Ethiopia. Having had experience
growing up in a country with malaria gives you a perspective and interest,
he said.
The disease, which takes an enormous toll in lives, medical costs and
lost labor, is caused by a parasite that is transmitted by the bite of
an infected Anopheles mosquito.
MMV, an international public and privately funded organization, was
formed in 1999 to create a unique way for developing new anti-malarial
drugs that may otherwise not be developed due to cost.