Spring Break
New anti-malaria drug is promising in early tests
Issue date: 3/13/08
The lab created 11 combinations, using methods of organic and medicinal chemistry, that fit the commonly accepted criteria for 100 percent efficacy - the complete absence of malaria parasites in the blood 30 days post-infection.
Posner's interest in artemisinin grew out of a project he worked on with the biology department at Hopkins that was unrelated to malaria. While experimenting with a chemical group called peroxides, his interest was piqued when he learned that they were an important ingredient in Chinese folk medicine and he decided to pursue them.
Fifteen years later he and his lab have produced an exciting drug that could have widespread future applications.
Although this group of drug has been shown to cure malaria with 100 percent efficacy, Posner hopes to continue refining his research. "We certainly will be involved in designing related compounds with higher efficacy. Instead of three doses we are aiming for a cure via one dose."
Reducing the regimen from three days to one would make the drugs less expensive and increase the chances of its being taken correctly, which is a priority because according to WHO, most malaria treatment takes place in poor, rural areas.
Knowing this, Posner's group made an effort to reduce the number of steps necessary to produce the chemicals needed to make the drug more affordable and therefore practical as a treatment option for people with malaria, a disproportionate percentage of whom are children.
Although much more testing must be done before these drugs are used to treat people with malaria, according to Posner, their creation "represents a major advance in the development of new drug candidates for the treatment of malaria."
Posner's interest in artemisinin grew out of a project he worked on with the biology department at Hopkins that was unrelated to malaria. While experimenting with a chemical group called peroxides, his interest was piqued when he learned that they were an important ingredient in Chinese folk medicine and he decided to pursue them.
Fifteen years later he and his lab have produced an exciting drug that could have widespread future applications.
Although this group of drug has been shown to cure malaria with 100 percent efficacy, Posner hopes to continue refining his research. "We certainly will be involved in designing related compounds with higher efficacy. Instead of three doses we are aiming for a cure via one dose."
Reducing the regimen from three days to one would make the drugs less expensive and increase the chances of its being taken correctly, which is a priority because according to WHO, most malaria treatment takes place in poor, rural areas.
Knowing this, Posner's group made an effort to reduce the number of steps necessary to produce the chemicals needed to make the drug more affordable and therefore practical as a treatment option for people with malaria, a disproportionate percentage of whom are children.
Although much more testing must be done before these drugs are used to treat people with malaria, according to Posner, their creation "represents a major advance in the development of new drug candidates for the treatment of malaria."
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