{"id":47525,"date":"2004-07-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-07-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2004\/07\/20\/unmc-led-international-anti-malarial-drug-discoveryprogressesto-first-phase-of-human-trials\/"},"modified":"2022-08-28T21:42:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T02:42:50","slug":"unmc-led-international-anti-malarial-drug-discoveryprogressesto-first-phase-of-human-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2004\/07\/20\/unmc-led-international-anti-malarial-drug-discoveryprogressesto-first-phase-of-human-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC-led international anti-malarial drug discovery\nprogresses\nto first phase of human trials"},"content":{"rendered":"

A University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy-led team
\nof scientists is celebrating with cautious optimism as the drug it
\ndeveloped
\nhas taken another step toward success. The anti-malarial drug candidate
\nis now being tested in phase I clinical trials in London, where it is
\nbeing
\nevaluated for safety in a small group of human volunteers.\n<\/p>\n

If the drug works as hoped, it could be marketed to treat malaria at
\na cost much less than commonly used anti-malarial drugs.\n<\/p>\n

The UNMC-led team, which has been funded by Medicines for Malaria
\nVenture
\n(MMV) of Geneva, Switzerland since 2001, is made up of scientists from
\nthe UNMC College of Pharmacy, Monash University in Australia, the Swiss
\nTropical Institute and F. Hoffmann-LaRoche pharmaceutical company in
\nSwitzerland.
\nThe group received a patent on the drug compound and shares a
\nfive-year,
\n$5.5 million grant funded by MMV.\n<\/p>\n

Jonathan Vennerstrom, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical
\nsciences,
\nUNMC College of Pharmacy, led the project, which is now transitioning
\nto
\nRanbaxy Laboratories Ltd., one of India’s largest pharmaceutical
\ncompanies.\n<\/p>\n

“Dr. Vennerstrom has achieved a very significant milestone,” said
\nClarence
\nUeda, Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy. “Although a number
\nof
\nother hurdles still remain, his years of dedication and effort appear
\nto
\nbe panning out. I’m very, very pleased for him.\n<\/p>\n

“He and his team are an excellent example of what being scientists
\nis
\nall about, especially one in academia. They epitomize commitment,
\nfocus,
\nperseverance, dedication, teamwork, and, of course, hard work. It’s not
\nyour everyday scientist that pursues a research career in an area such
\nas malaria, especially in the United States, where the financial gains
\nare not that enticing. Dr. Vennerstrom chose a career in science for
\nthe
\nright reasons,” Dr. Ueda said.\n<\/p>\n

Though the malaria epidemic seems like a world away, in places such
\nas Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the disease kills more than
\n2 million people each year, most of them children and pregnant women,
\naccording
\nto the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, an estimated 300
\nmillion
\nto 500 million new cases of malaria are diagnosed each year. More than
\n90 percent of all malaria cases occur in Africa. Also at risk are those
\nwho travel to countries where malaria is prevalent.\n<\/p>\n

Dr. Vennerstrom and his team are humbled by their success. There are
\nmany hurdles. Most drugs fail before reaching the market.\n<\/p>\n

“This has been a wonderful project. I’ve been blessed with such good
\npeople in our lab and our project partners. There’s always a chance
\nthat
\ndrug candidates can fail. So far there have been no problems with it.
\nThis
\nproject’s always been a go. So far, so good. It’s way out of our hands
\nnow,” Dr. Vennerstrom said.\n<\/p>\n

He said the team continues to perfect the compound to make it
\nbetter.
\n“We have a number of really good backup compounds should something
\nhappen
\nto this one. The current drug has made it to phase I. We’re all quite
\nconfident
\nit will work well in patients. This drug has such powerful
\nanti-malarial
\nproperties.”\n<\/p>\n

Yuxiang Dong, Ph.D., research associate, UNMC College of Pharmacy,
\ndiscovered the anti-malarial compound. “I didn’t realize the potential
\nuntil the WHO (World Health Organization)
\nsaid it was ‘spectacular.’ We didn’t think it was a big deal at the
\ntime,”
\nDr. Dong said. “We’ve had tremendous success. To me, it’s a big
\nsatisfaction.
\nMaybe this is the beginning.”\n<\/p>\n

Called the Synthetic Peroxide Project, it was the first new drug
\ncandidate
\nto be entirely funded by MMV in 2001, and also was voted Project of the
\nYear that same year. MMV was officially launched in 1999 as a
\nnon-profit
\nfoundation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease
\nendemic
\ncountries by discovering new affordable anti-malarials through
\neffective
\npublic-private partnership.\n<\/p>\n

MMV currently funds 21 projects. Dr. Vennerstrom’s project is
\nconsidered
\none of four MMV accelerated projects. One of MMV’s major sources of
\nfunds
\nis the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy-led team of scientists is celebrating with cautious optimism as the drug it developed has taken another step toward success. The anti-malarial drug candidate is now being tested in phase I clinical trials in London, where it is being evaluated for safety in a small group of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC-led international anti-malarial drug discovery progresses to first phase of human 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