Neglected Tropical Disease News and Research

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Emergence of multidrug-resistant salmonella strains increases burden of neglected diseases in Africa

"The affected countries will have a major problem if we do not manage to control salmonella bloodstream infections with new antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin," cautions Prof Jürgen May.

15 Jun 2016

Common angina drug can stimulate patient's own white blood cells to combat cryptococcosis

A drug, more commonly used in the treatment of angina, could be the focus of a new strategy in fighting the fatal fungal infection cryptococcosis

8 Jun 2016

Deadly ‘Crypto’ pathogen lures US researcher to UQ

Cryptococcus is so forsaken by research that it doesn’t even make the neglected diseases list – but the deadly fungal pathogen has lured an American scientist all the way to The University of Queensland.

14 Apr 2016

GHIT Fund invests in two innovative malaria eradication tools

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) announced today that it’s investing US$1,383,785 in a pair of innovative malaria eradication tools—a vaccine that could block transmission of two species of the deadly disease and a rapid field test that can reveal a malaria infection in minutes.

1 Apr 2016

Addition of just two DNA bases to LdAQP1 gene helps Black Fever parasite to overcome antimonial drugs

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists show how the parasite responsible for the neglected tropical disease Black Fever (visceral leishmaniasis) can become resistant to drug treatment. Studying the whole genomes of more than 200 samples of Leishmania donovani revealed that the addition of just two bases of DNA to a gene known as LdAQP1 stops the parasite from absorbing antimonial drugs.

23 Mar 2016

World TB Day: Aeras releases new animated video to help raise awareness about TB

Aeras, a non-profit biotechnology organization developing new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines for the world, is launching a new 90-second animated video in honor of World TB Day to help raise awareness about TB’s devastating toll and the need for new tools, including vaccines, to fight this epidemic.

22 Mar 2016

New Notre Dame research may lead to a therapy for Niemann-Pick Type C disease

Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure. NPC primarily strikes children before and during adolescence and affects one in every 150,000 children. The disease causes cholesterol and other lipids to build up in the body's cells, which results in symptoms such as delayed motor development, deterioration of memory and balance, and seizures.

26 Feb 2016

ZAO provides platform for scientists, clinicians to share new research and clinical data on Zika

ZAO provides a platform for scientists and clinicians to publish their findings and source data on Zika and its mosquito vectors within days of submission, so that research, medical and government personnel can keep abreast of the rapidly evolving outbreak.

10 Feb 2016

Millendo signs license agreement, secures funding to test new drugs for treatment of endocrine disorders

Millendo Therapeutics, a University of Michigan startup company, announced an exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the worldwide development and commercialization rights to test a new compound, MLE4901, for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome.

6 Jan 2016

GHIT Fund invests $10.7 million to fight malaria, TB, leishmaniasis and dengue

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, which in the last two years has invested US$43 million to develop innovative tools for fighting diseases worldwide, today announced it is investing $10.7 million at multiple points in the product development pipeline to seek new interventions for malaria, tuberculosis (TB), leishmaniasis and dengue.

5 Nov 2015

Malaria parasite hides undetected in the liver for long time before reawakening to cause disease

Eliminating malaria in the Asia-Pacific could prove more challenging than previously thought, with new research showing that most childhood malaria infections in endemic areas are the result of relapsed, not new, infections.

5 Nov 2015

LSTM's health economists sketch out the importance for universal access to medicines

LSTM's health economists Professor Louis Niessen and Dr Jahangir Khan outline the importance for universal access to medicines in the control of neglected diseases, other major infections, and chronic diseases.

22 Oct 2015

Invasive Salmonella infections revealed as major cause of child illness and deaths in Africa

Invasive Salmonella infections in sub-Saharan Africa are a major cause of child illness and deaths, a new body of research into this usually overlooked infectious disease has revealed.

8 Oct 2015

DNDi announces successful completion of SCYX-7158 Phase I study for treatment of sleeping sickness

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has announced today at the 9th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Basel, Switzerland, the successful completion of Phase I human clinical trials for SCYX-7158 (AN5568), the first oral drug candidate specifically developed from the earliest drug discovery stage to combat human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, a deadly parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly.

9 Sep 2015

DNDi unveils plans to better respond to the needs of neglected patients

After having built the world's largest drug development pipeline for the most neglected diseases, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has unveiled plans for a more flexible, dynamic portfolio approach, integrating various operating models to better respond to the needs of patients, notably in low- and middle-income countries. The plan also paves the way for new diseases to be taken up in DNDi's portfolio.

9 Sep 2015

Benznidazole has significant antiparasitic activity, but does not reduce progression of Chagas cardiomyopathy

A 40 to 80 day treatment with the antiparasitic medication benznidazole significantly reduced parasite activity in the blood, but not progression, of serious heart problems over a 5-year period among patients with established Chagas disease (CD) cardiomyopathy, results of the BENEFIT trial show.

1 Sep 2015

Europe has increasing prevalence of fungal resistance, warns ESCMID

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease – an organization that explores the risks and best practices in infectious disease – is imploring global healthcare professionals and bodies to take a more active role in the growing problem of fungal resistance.

28 Jul 2015

Study sheds light on current and potential treatment options for schistosomiasis

In a special free issue of Future Medicinal Chemistry, leading experts explore current and potential new treatment options for the deadly neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis.

28 Jul 2015

New approach provides more complete picture of donor support for key global health issues

As the world's leaders gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Financing for Development Conference, a study published in The Lancet demonstrates that a new approach is needed for classifying funding that reflects the function the funding serves, rather than the specific disease or country. The study is the first in-depth assessment of how donor funding is spent on global versus country-specific functions of health.

14 Jul 2015

Experts call for more spending on global health aids

As experts debate the slow response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and call for better international coordination, a new analysis estimates that $22 billion was spent on global health aid in 2013, yet only a fifth of this went toward such global imperatives as research on diseases that disproportionally affect the poor, outbreak preparedness and global health leadership.

13 Jul 2015