Leishmaniasis News and Research

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Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of infected sand flies. It is found in nearly 88 countries, from rain forests in Central and South America to deserts in the Middle East and west Asia. Some cases of the disease have also appeared in Mexico and Texas.

Leishmaniasis takes several different forms, including the most common cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and the more severe visceral leishmaniasis, which affects internal organs such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 1.5 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 500,000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis in the world each year.

Controlling NTDs can improve reproductive health and rights of women in poor countries

Controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in developing countries would help improve the reproductive health and rights of girls and women in the poorest countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, according to a new editorial published November 24 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

2 Dec 2009

Pfizer,DNDi partner to Identify NTD drugs; Sanofi-Aventis, medicines for malaria launch drug study

Pfizer and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) on Wednesday announced plans to team up in an effort to identify new drug candidates for the treatment of three tropical diseases, the Associated Press/Business Week reports. The scientists will test the efficacy of Pfizer drug candidates against sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.

19 Nov 2009

Pfizer and DNDi to battle against HAT, VL and Chagas disease

Pfizer Inc and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) have signed an agreement that is designed to facilitate advancements in the battle against human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Chagas disease, which afflict vulnerable populations in the developing world.

19 Nov 2009

Researchers find compound that reverses type 1 myotonic dystrophy

A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease, according to researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York.

7 Nov 2009

WHO, MSF highlight poor health situation in Southern Sudan

Three quarters of people in South Sudan, which has a population of 8 million, do not have access to health care, and 10 percent of children there and in Darfur die before the age of 1, Mohammad Abdur Rab, the WHO's representative to Sudan, said Thursday, Reuters/ABC News reports.

7 Nov 2009

Scientists identify compounds that hold promise for treating parasitic infection

Using an unconventional approach that they designed, University of Pittsburgh drug discoverers and their collaborators at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have identified compounds that hold promise for treating leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection that many consider one of the world's most overlooked diseases.

4 Nov 2009

Doctoral candidate sheds new light on the biology of Leishmania parasites

Professor Albert Descoteaux's team at Centre INRS - Institut Armand-Frappier has gained a better understanding of how the Leishmania donovani parasite manages to outsmart the human immune system and proliferate with impunity, causing visceral leishmaniasis, a chronic infection that is potentially fatal if left untreated.

24 Oct 2009

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals establishes a new Anti-Viral Research Group

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has established a new Anti-Viral Research Group in its R&D organization.

7 Oct 2009

US Army grants BioDelivery Sciences $1.3M for investigating Bioral Amphotericin B

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. has received a $1.3 million grant from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research for Bioral Amphotericin B, an oral formulation of the fungicidal treatment amphotericin B in BDSI’s patented Bioral drug delivery technology, to further study the formulation in the treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

6 Oct 2009

iCo Therapeutics, CPDD sign collaboration development agreement

iCo Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: ICO) is pleased to announce that the company has signed a collaboration development agreement with The Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development (CPDD) for the research and development of iCo's oral drug delivery technology for the treatment of neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis. Initial funding of USD $182,930 will be provided for formulation optimization for tropical conditions.

25 Sep 2009

Clinton Global Initiative to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination

At the Clinton Global Initiative today, the Inter-American Development Bank joined with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases to announce their commitment to mobilize $30 million from the public and private sectors to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination in the Americas, supported by technical assistance from the Pan American Health Organization, regional office of the World Health Organization for the Americas.

24 Sep 2009

BioDelivery Sciences International to integrate its Newark operations with company’s headquarters in Raleigh

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (Nasdaq: BDSI), today announced the consolidation of the company’s laboratory and other operations in Newark, New Jersey to the company’s headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. BDSI will vacate its Newark facility by September 30, 2009.

2 Sep 2009

Gates Foundation task force visits flooded Indian state

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently sent an eight member task force, led by the foundation's country head Ashok Alexander, to the Indian state of Bihar, which has experienced significant flooding in many districts, PTI/Hindu reports (8/30). "With major rivers in spate, there is no let up in the overall flood situation in Bihar where 1.5 million people continue to reel under the deluge in 11 north Bihar districts," according to PTI (8/30).

1 Sep 2009

IDRI signs agreement to use NanoPass' MicronJet microneedle technology for intradermal vaccines

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and NanoPass Technologies Ltd. (NanoPass) today announced they have entered into an agreement whereby IDRI licenses NanoPass' proprietary MicronJet microneedle technology for the intradermal delivery of products against a number of diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, leishmaniasis and leprosy, among others. The financial details of the agreement are confidential.

31 Aug 2009

Infectious Disease Research Institute commences clinical trial of its leishmaniasis vaccine in Sudan

IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) announced today the start of a clinical trial in Sudan to test its leishmaniasis vaccine candidate for the treatment of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), a complication of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) which is observed in 50% of patients treated for VL in the country, predominantly affecting children.

28 Aug 2009

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide.

17 Aug 2009

Upstream Biosciences actively seeking licensors or acquirers for anti-parasitic drug discovery portfolio and cancer diagnostic platform

Upstream Biosciences Inc. (OTCBB: UPBS) has announced that the company is actively seeking licensors or acquirers for its novel anti-parasitic drug discovery portfolio and cancer diagnostic platform.

11 Aug 2009

Lancet examines leishmaniasis in east Africa

A Lancet world report examines the growing threat of visceral leishmaniasis on populations in eastern Africa. Each year, the parasitic disease affects around 500,000 people worldwide, killing roughly 50,000. Though "[t]wo-thirds of [leishmaniasis] patients are in southeast Asia … the second largest foci is east Africa: perhaps as many as 40,000 cases every year, and incidence is on the rise," according to the article.

31 Jul 2009

Gates Foundation donates additional $80 million to Indian HIV-prevention program, receives Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give an additional $80 million to Avahan, a foundation initiative launched in 2003 for HIV prevention programs in India, Bill Gates said on Thursday, the Seattle Times blog, "Business of Giving" reports.

28 Jul 2009

IPS examines need for new drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases

Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004.

8 Jul 2009