The dwindling efficacy of commonly used antimalarials has contributed substantially to the resurgence of malaria during last three decades. Although new antimalarials have appeared in the market during this time, none has yet supplemented chloroquine. Thus there has been a need for continued efforts on new antimalarial drug development.
The Central Drug Research Institute has developed a novel antimalarial drug which was given an in house name “Compound 97/78”. CDRI 97/78 has shown efficacy in animal models of falciparum malaria. Recently, it was tested for the first time in-human phase I trial in healthy volunteers. In the study, the compound was found to be well tolerated by healthy volunteers. The few adverse events noted were of grade 2 severity, not requiring intervention and not showing any dose response relationship.
Compound CDRI 97/78, a fully synthetic 1,2,4 trioxane derivative has been identified for development as a viable alternative to artemisinine derivatives for use against drug resistant P. falciparum and cerebral malaria cases. Clinical development of this compound is being pursued under Licensing agreements with IPCA Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mumbai
The Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, India which has been the leader in new antimalarial drug development. Its objective is to develop new blood schizontocidal antimalarials / drug combinations for control of drug resistant parasites, development of new safer Gametocytocidal, Prophylactic and Anti-relapse agents, harnessing of malaria parasite genome for identification of new drug targets, molecular mechanism of drug action, biochemical markers for characterization of resistant parasites, evaluation of immuno-prophylactic agents, development of newer in vitro assay / tests for parasiticidal activity.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24800100
http://www.cdriindia.org/parasitic2.htm
http://www.cdriindia.org/malaria.htm
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