Neglected Tropical Disease News and Research

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NIH selects Viamet's novel antifungal compound for inclusion in the TRND program

Viamet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that one of its novel antifungal compounds has been selected for inclusion in the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program.

29 Jul 2011

Financial Times examines product development partnerships developing drugs for neglected diseases

The Financial Times examines the rise of product development partnerships (PDPs), which are "non-governmental organizations that generate their own funding and build partnerships with universities, businesses, government and patients in low-income countries to develop new drugs, vaccines, prevention techniques and diagnostics for diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, cholera and meningitis."

22 Jul 2011

IAS conference opens with push for treatment as prevention

The 6th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention taking place in Rome this week "started optimistically as the hype surrounding the use of antiretroviral treatment to prevent HIV infection gained momentum. But the focus of much discussion … will undoubtedly be on how to transform the recent promising research findings into workable policy," PlusNews reports.

20 Jul 2011

DNDi's new drug development programme for children with HIV/AIDS

Today at the 6th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced the launch of a new drug development programme to address critical unmet treatment needs of children with HIV/AIDS.

19 Jul 2011

U.S. leading fight against NTDs

Bernard Pecoul, executive director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and editor-in-chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, write in this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post that the first-ever neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) meeting of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, which is taking place this weekend in Boston, "offers an opportunity for U.S. policy-makers...

8 Jul 2011

Heartworm medication Ivermectin prevents malaria transmission in Africa

A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already being used to fight other parasites in Africa could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills almost 800,000 people each year, according to a new study published in the July edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

7 Jul 2011

Drug companies collaborate with DNDi support to develop drug for African sleeping sickness

Researchers from Scynexis Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Anacor Pharmaceuticals in Palo Alto, Calif., sponsored by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, on Tuesday reported in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases that a new experimental drug kills the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness in mice and will enter human clinical trials this year, ScienceNOW reports.

30 Jun 2011

Anacor, DNDi and SCYNEXIS complete SCYX-7158 pre-clinical studies for combating sleeping sickness

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and SCYNEXIS Inc. today announced the successful completion of pre-clinical studies for the first new oral drug candidate discovered specifically to combat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness.

29 Jun 2011

Developing new antipoverty vaccines may eliminate world's neglected diseases, says Sabin president

Despite significant advancements in increasing distribution and development of vaccines against childhood killer diseases - including pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, and Haemophilus influenzae Type B - global efforts to reduce the burden of infection from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has greatly lagged, argues Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) President Dr. Peter Hotez in an article for the June edition of Health Affairs.

23 Jun 2011

WHO special issue addresses economic burden of dengue in the Americas, Africa and Asia

The ten studies in this special issue document the substantial and growing burden of dengue in the Americas, Africa and Asia, and the burden of a chikungunya outbreak in India.

18 Jun 2011

New opportunities to save another 6.4 million lives

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges-and save another 6.4 million lives over the current decade, according articles in the June 2011 edition of Health Affairs. The issue was produced under the journal's grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

10 Jun 2011

The ‘decade of vaccines’ has the potential to save lives, many challenges ahead

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges—and save another 6.4 million lives over the current decade, according articles in the June 2011 edition of Health Affairs. The issue was produced under the journal’s grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

9 Jun 2011

Sanofi, DNDi announce three-year research collaboration for neglected tropical diseases

The pharmaceutical company Sanofi and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) on Monday announced a three-year research collaboration to develop drugs for nine neglected tropical diseases, RTTNews reports.

2 Jun 2011

Proteros, IP-K partner for structure-based drug discovery services in the field of infectious diseases

Proteros Biostructures GmbH announced today that it has entered into a service agreement with Institut Pasteur Korea (IP-K) under which Proteros will provide structure-based drug discovery services to IP-K.

25 May 2011

Anacor first quarter revenues increase to $2.2 million

Anacor Pharmaceuticals reviewed today its first quarter accomplishments and reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

5 May 2011

Study measures cost-effectiveness of trauma drug published in PLoS One

How much would you pay for an extra year of healthy life? The cost of filling up your car at the petrol pumps? Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have found that a year of life could be saved for around the price of filling up the tank of an average family car in the UK - which is a fitting comparison bearing in mind that most of the patients who will benefit from this cheap life-saving drug have been hit by cars.

4 May 2011

Researchers begin approved drugs screening for clinical use against rare diseases

Researchers have begun screening the first definitive collection of thousands of approved drugs for clinical use against rare and neglected diseases. They are hunting for additional uses of the drugs hoping to find off-label therapies, for some of the 6,000 rare diseases that afflict 25 million Americans.

28 Apr 2011

Rate of antiretroviral virological failure higher among children living with HIV/AIDS than adults, study finds

One in eight children living with HIV/AIDS "experiences triple-class virological failure - meaning the virus becomes resistant to multiple drugs - within five years of starting antiretroviral treatment," according to a study published Wednesday in the Lancet, HealthDay News/MSN reports. The "failure rate is higher than in adults and highlights the challenge of maintaining viral load suppression in young patients who begin antiretroviral therapy so early in life, the researchers said," according to the news service (Preidt, 4/19).

21 Apr 2011

Post-infection treatment with NanoViricides FluCide reduces lung lesions caused by lethal influenza infection

NanoViricides, Inc. reports that post-infection treatment with its optimized FluCide™ drug candidates resulted in dramatic reduction in the number of lung lesions that are caused by a lethal influenza virus infection. These findings were seen in the most recent H1N1 influenza animal study.

5 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial describes the growing public concerns over a global rise in antimicrobial resistance. "Bearing in mind that our objective is to contain antibiotic resistance rather than eradicate it, several policies could be adopted to help guarantee a future for antibiotics," the editorial states, adding, "We need reliable data to tackle antibiotic resistance.

2 Apr 2011