Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Newly identified mosquito subspecies highly susceptible to malaria parasite, prefers outdoors

"Researchers have discovered a previously unknown subspecies of mosquito in West Africa that is highly susceptible to the malaria parasite and whose existence may stymie efforts to eradicate the deadly disease," the Los Angeles Times reports (Khan, 2/4).

5 Feb 2011

Genocea announces close of $35 million Series B venture financing round

Genocea Biosciences Inc., a vaccine discovery and development company pioneering a new class of T cell-based vaccines, today announced that it has closed a $35 million Series B round of venture financing, with new investors Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), Skyline Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management, Inc. (MPH) joining existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Lux Capital Management, SR One, Cycad Group, Auriga Partners and Morningside Ventures.

3 Jan 2011

Researchers show how malaria parasites infect red blood cells, impede blood flow to organs

Although the incidence of malaria has declined in all but a few countries worldwide, according to a World Health Organization report earlier this month, malaria remains a global threat. Nearly 800,000 people succumbed to the mosquito-borne disease in 2009, nearly all of them in the developing world.

21 Dec 2010

WHO report shows significant progress in global malaria fight, highlights need for continued funding

Since 2008, global malaria control efforts have "helped reduce infections across Africa and [eliminate] the disease in Morocco and Turkmenistan, but a slowdown in funding risks undoing those achievements," according to the WHO's annual malaria report, which was released on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Nebehay, 12/14).

16 Dec 2010

MVI, Merck and NYU collaborate to research potential malaria vaccine

Development of a vaccine to prevent the malaria parasite from entering the human liver is the goal of a new collaboration announced today by global leaders in malaria research and vaccine development. The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), Merck (known outside the US and Canada as MSD), and NYU Langone Medical Center are working together to evaluate an approach targeting a novel part of a major surface protein on the malaria parasite. Malaria is estimated to kill close to 900,000 people each year with the majority of deaths occurring in children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.

14 Dec 2010

New collaboration to develop vaccine to prevent malaria parasite from entering human liver

14 Dec 2010

Portugal research groups awarded Gates Foundation grants

Two research groups in Portugal are to receive Grand Challenges Exploration Grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. One of these research teams is led by Miguel Prud-ncio, at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), and the other by Miguel Soares, at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia (IGC) together with Henrique Silveira, at the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT).

11 Nov 2010

UC researchers receive four-year grant to study mechanism of malarial parasite replication in RBCs

Today, about half the world's population lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission. The disease is transmitted to humans through bites from mosquitoes, and each year causes hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, with about 1,500 of these in the United States.

8 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

Killer malaria to disappear in 10-15 years: Experts

From data gathered around the world experts predict that the deadliest type of malaria can be eradicated in 10 to 15 years. The disease affects half the global population and kills an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide every year. The organism responsible for deaths is commonly Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite is at its most deadly in sub-Saharan Africa, where 90 per cent of malaria fatalities occur.

31 Oct 2010

Mathematical models and maps to eliminate malaria

Two University of Florida researchers and their international colleagues have used mathematical models and maps to estimate the feasibility of eliminating malaria from countries that have the deadliest form of the disease.

29 Oct 2010

Scientists use Affymetrix custom microarray to advance malarial study

Affymetrix, Inc. announced today that an international team of researchers led by scientists at Boston College, the Broad Institute, and Imperial College London used an Affymetrix custom microarray to advance the study of malaria by assessing the variation in genetic structure and detecting known and novel genetic differences among malaria vector mosquito populations.

25 Oct 2010

Efforts against drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border show progress, but more 'aggressive' approach needed, health officials say

Efforts to prevent the spread of drug-resistant malaria along the border between Cambodia and Thailand are showing signs of progress, but additional work is needed to contain the new strain, health officials said on Friday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

4 Oct 2010

Key pathway used by malaria parasite to infect human cells identified

Development of an effective vaccine for malaria is a step closer following identification of a key pathway used by the malaria parasite to infect human cells. The discovery, by researchers at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, provides a new vaccine target through which infection with the deadly disease could be prevented.

24 Sep 2010

MVI agrees to provide fund for evaluating Inovio's malaria DNA vaccine candidate in non-human primates

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) has agreed to provide follow-on funding to continue evaluation and development of Inovio's malaria DNA vaccine candidate in non-human primates.

15 Sep 2010

Single-dose of experimental malaria drug clears parasites in mice, represents potential new class of drugs to treat malaria in humans

An experimental malaria drug was shown to effectively treat the disease in mice with only a single dose, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science, Reuters reports (Kelland, 9/2). The new drug, known as NITD609, "represents an entirely new class of medicines to treat malaria ... Human trials, backed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, could begin later this year," the Wall Street Journal writes (Naik, 9/3).

4 Sep 2010

Mathematical model projects potential impact of current tools fighting malaria in Africa

Current tools for combating malaria, such as artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and increasing coverage of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) insecticide-treated bednets (ITN) "could dramatically reduce the burden of malignant malaria on parts of Africa if a comprehensive, sustained intervention programme were in place," according to a study published this week in PLoS Medicine, CORDIS News reports.

16 Aug 2010

Researchers map malaria parasite P vivax; Nearly 3B people at risk of infection in 2009

A new evidence-based map estimates that in 2009 2.85 billion people lived "at risk of infection" with the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, BMJ News reports. As described in a study, published Tuesday in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, P vivax "is more widespread and potentially represents a greater burden on human health in some parts of the world than P falciparum, the species usually associated with the greatest mortality and morbidity," BMJ News writes (Moszynski, 8/3).

5 Aug 2010

Telormedix, Swiss TPH Institute collaborate to develop effective vaccines for Malaria, Buruli Ulcer

Telormedix, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using targeted immunity to treat cancer and other diseases, today announced the start of a collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) on a pilot study using Telormedix's adjuvant, TMX-201, in connection with immunization for Malaria and Buruli Ulcer.

3 Aug 2010

Researchers develop techniques to identify evolution of drug resistance strains of malaria

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University developed techniques to quickly identify evolution of drug resistance in strains of malaria. Their goal is to enable the medical community to react quickly to inevitable resistance and thereby save lives while increasing the lifespan of drugs used against the disease.Currently, disease monitoring requires months of clinical trials. The new methods can provide more information in just days, and far cheaper.