New Drug Cabamiquine Provides Complete Protection against Malaria Infection

Malaria parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to current malaria drugs

Researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Center for Human Drug Research (CHDR) have investigated the effect of a new possible drug against Plasmodium falciparum, the most common and most dangerous form of malaria. The study with volunteers shows that the use of the experimental drug cabamiquine offers complete protection against a malaria infection. The results are published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Malaria parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to current malaria drugs. This is a major problem worldwide, because the medicines we use now will have less and less effect. It is therefore very important that new medicines are developed quickly to prevent and continue to treat malaria. The German scientific and technological company Merck therefore collaborated with researchers from Leiden to investigate whether the new research drug cabamiquine can prevent malaria.

Controlled malaria infections
The experimental drug cabamiquine was tested in 39 healthy volunteers. They received the new drug candidate after 2 hours or 4 days, after they had previously been infected with malaria parasites. These types of infection studies can be performed safely and in a controlled environment within the Controlled Human Infection Center, part of the LUMC. The research was led by Meta Roestenberg, professor of Human Models for Vaccine Development. The study looked at whether the drug cabamiquine can prevent malaria and whether the drug is still effective in humans several days after an infection.

The administration of and additional research into the experimental drug was carried out within the Center for Human Drug Research, a foundation specialized in drug research in humans, under the direction of Associate Director Infectious Diseases Dr. Ingrid de Visser-Kamerling. “During the study, we compared the concentrations of cabamiquine in the blood with the effectiveness of the drug against the malaria infection. As a result, we found out that this experimental drug had a more powerful effect than originally thought. And that is good news, of course,” says Dr. de Visser-Kamerling.

Protection up to four days after infection
According to physician-researcher Johan van der Plas of the Center for Human Drug Research, the study shows that just a single dose of cabamiquine can still be effective against the most common and most dangerous form of malaria up to four days after infection. “The research shows very well how the ‘human infection model’ can be used to develop and test new potential drugs against malaria,” says van der Plas.

Read the publicatie in de Lancet Infectious Diseases

Bron: LUMC

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2023-07-05 07:00:11
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