Chloroquine News and Research

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EMA grants positive scientific opinion for Pyramax to treat malaria

Pyramax-, a fixed-dose combination of pyronaridine and artesunate, becomes the first antimalarial to be granted a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) under Article 58. This once daily, 3-day treatment is indicated for acute, uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum and blood-stage Plasmodium vivax malaria in adults and children over 20 kg.

22 Feb 2012

$Anti-malarial treatment available to millions of poor Nigerians at a fraction of its normal cost$

Anti-malarial treatment available to millions of poor Nigerians at a fraction of its normal cost

Millions of poor Nigerians will gain access to the most effective combination treatment for malaria at a fraction of its current cost, following the successful conclusion of negotiations between the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) funded Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS2) and a variety of international and national stakeholders in Nigeria this week.

31 Jan 2012

Counterfeit malaria drugs endanger millions of lives

According to researchers fake and poor quality anti-malarial drugs are threatening efforts to control the disease in Africa and could put millions of lives at risk. These counterfeit medicines could harm patients and promote drug resistance among malaria parasites, warns the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

18 Jan 2012

Chloroquine-chemotherapy combination holds potential for metastatic breast cancer treatment

An anti-malaria drug used for more than 60 years is now being studied for use in breast cancer patients whose disease has not responded to traditional chemotherapy treatment.

18 Nov 2011

Urgency of antimalarial drug resistance must be recognized

Arjen Dondorp, deputy director of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Research Unit at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, and colleagues discuss the need to combat antimalarial drug resistance in this New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece, writing, "Researchers, funders, and policy leaders must recognize the urgency of the problem, take action to address simultaneously several important knowledge gaps, and focus immediately on eliminating the threat of artemisinin resistance."

23 Sep 2011

Aggressive medication leads to growth of drug-resistant pathogens

New research raises troubling concerns about the use of aggressive drug therapies to treat a wide range of diseases such as MRSA, C. difficile, malaria, and even cancer.

4 Aug 2011

Innovative delivery systems and methods to treat breast cancer

In their lifetime, women have more than a 12 percent risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 This week, research on novel approaches to breast cancer treatment is being presented at the Era of Hope (EOH) conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP).

4 Aug 2011

Anti-malaria drug provides key insight into potential treatments for autoimmune diseases

In a study published recently in the journal Science Signaling Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists demonstrate on the molecular level how the anti-malaria drug chloroquine represses inflammation, which may provide a blueprint for new strategies for treating inflammation and a multitude of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and certain cancers.

19 Jul 2011

Evolutionary-management strategies to limit spread of drug-resistant diseases

In the war between drugs and drug-resistant diseases, is the current strategy for medicating patients giving many drug-resistant diseases a big competitive advantage?, asks a research paper that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

24 Jun 2011

Leucine deprivation triggers apoptosis in melanoma cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have found that depriving human melanoma cells of the essential amino acid leucine can be lethal to the cells, suggesting a possible strategy for therapeutic intervention.

18 May 2011

New insight into itch and pain

A new study of itch adds to growing evidence that the chemical signals that make us want to scratch are the same signals that make us wince in pain.

3 May 2011

Malaria drug shrinks, slows resistant pancreatic tumors

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report they have shrunk or slowed the growth of notoriously resistant pancreatic tumors in mice, using a drug routinely prescribed for malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.

16 Mar 2011

Genetic proof for anti-cancer properties of antioxidants and autophagy inhibitors

Researchers from Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center have genetic evidence suggesting the antioxidant drugs currently used to treat lung disease, malaria and even the common cold can also help prevent and treat cancers because they fight against mitochondrial oxidative stress-a culprit in driving tumor growth.

16 Feb 2011

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a breakdown of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal region of the brain, which leads to, among other symptoms, a change in personality and behavior. The cause of some forms of frontotemporal dementia is a genetically determined reduction of a hormone-like growth factor, progranulin.

3 Feb 2011

News outlets examine reaction to WHO plan to contain drug-resistant malaria

In follow-up coverage of the WHO's announcement Wednesday of a plan to contain the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria, news outlets examined the scope of the problem, reactions to the plan and speculations of how the anticipated $175 million annual cost would be funded.

14 Jan 2011

One-third of malaria-endemic countries are complying with WHO malaria drug efficacy monitoring standards, report says

Thirty-four percent of malaria-endemic countries are complying with WHO guidelines to monitor artemisinin resistance within their borders, the agency said in a report on Thursday, CBS News reports (11/18). Reuters reports that artemisinin "is the best drug available against malaria, especially when used in artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), which combines it with other drugs that finish off the [malaria] parasite" (Nebehay, 11/18).

20 Nov 2010

National monitoring essential for preventing emergence of malaria drug resistance

WHO is calling on countries to be increasingly vigilant in monitoring antimalarial drug efficacy in order to allow for early detection of artemisinin resistance.1 This is one among several conclusions of the Global report on antimalarial drug efficacy and drug resistance: 2000-2010, released today. The report is based on 1100 studies conducted by national malaria control programs and research institutes over the ten-year period.

19 Nov 2010

Advanced Life Sciences enters CRADA for Restanza with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement ("CRADA") with The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

2 Nov 2010

Taste receptors in lungs can revolutionize treatment option for asthma

Taste receptors in the lungs. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have discovered that bitter taste receptors are not just located in the mouth but also in human lungs. What they learned about the role of the receptors could revolutionize the treatment of asthma and other obstructive lung diseases.

25 Oct 2010

Antioxidant therapy may prevent long-lasting cognitive impairment in cerebral malaria: Research

Using an experimental mouse model for malaria, an international group of scientists has discovered that adding antioxidant therapy to traditional antimalarial treatment may prevent long-lasting cognitive impairment in cerebral malaria. Their findings were published online June 24, 2010, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

28 Jun 2010