Innovation in neglected tropical disease drug discovery and development

Abstract

BackgroundNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are closely related to poverty and affect over a billion people in developing countries. The unmet treatment needs cause high mortality and disability thereby imposing a huge burden with severe social and economic consequences. Although coordinated by the World Health Organization, various philanthropic organizations, national governments and the pharmaceutical industry have been making efforts in improving the situation, the control of NTDs is still inadequate and extremely difficult today. The lack of safe, effective and affordable medicines is a key contributing factor. This paper reviews the recent advances and some of the challenges that we are facing in the fight against NTDs.Main bodyIn recent years, a number of innovations have demonstrated propensity to promote drug discovery and development for NTDs. Implementation of multilateral collaborations leads to continued efforts and plays a crucial role in drug discovery. Proactive approaches and advanced technologies are urgently needed in drug innovation for NTDs. However, the control and elimination of NTDs remain a formidable task as it requires persistent international cooperation to make sustainable progresses for a long period of time. Some currently employed strategies were proposed and verified to be successful, which involve both mechanisms of ‘Push’ which aims at cutting the cost of research and development for industry and ‘Pull’ which aims at increasing market attractiveness. Coupled to this effort should be the exercise of shared responsibility globally to reduce risks, overcome obstacles and maximize benefits. Since NTDs are closely associated with poverty, it is absolutely essential that the stakeholders take concerted and long-term measures to meet multifaceted challenges by alleviating extreme poverty, strengthening social intervention, adapting climate changes, providing effective monitoring and ensuring timely delivery.ConclusionsThe ongoing endeavor at the global scale will ultimately benefit the patients, the countries they are living and, hopefully, the manufacturers who provide new preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic products.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-018-0444-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Unpacking the Pathogen Box—An Open Source Tool for Fighting Neglected Tropical Disease

“…Furthermore, compelling evidence for clinical links between these classes of disease indicates that certain NTD infections may increase susceptibility to either malaria, Tb or HIV, or alternatively worsen the course of these diseases for patients already infected . Therefore, the need to maintain the pipeline of therapies to contain these diseases cannot be overstated . The Pathogen Box (https://www.pathogenbox.org/) contains 400 compounds with demonstrated activity against kinetoplastids, cryptosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis, tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis, schistosomiasis, dengue virus and trichuriasis.…”

Drug development for cryptococcosis treatment: what can patents tell us?

“…Despite the many advances brought about by collaborative R&D efforts, the number of approved drugs in recent decades is far from ideal, and many challenges still exist for NTD drug development. 31 , 32 , 33 In the specific case of cryptococcosis, increased funding is imperative to drive both research and innovation. The inclusion of cryptococcosis as an NTD could be an important step in this direction: (i) by raising awareness to the fact that cryptococcosis ranks among the most poorly funded diseases in the world; 17 (ii) by allowing the academic sector and corporations to benefit from global NTD funds; (iii) by incentivising the establishment of governmental, philanthropic, and institutional funding programs directed to this specific disease; and (iv) by ensuring that afflicted populations will benefit from global initiatives to reduce NTD burden such as the London Declaration on NTDs.…”

Structure and Antiparasitic Activity Relationship of Alkylphosphocholine Analogues against Leishmania donovani

“…There are a limited number of drugs that can be used for the treatment of VL and some have been discontinued due to a reduction in clinical efficacy caused by non-compliance with treatment regimens and the emergence of drug-resistant parasites in endemic areas [2][3][4]. Ideally, new drugs to treat leishmaniasis are required but this approach is limited by the fact that leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease, and will not make a good investment return for pharmaceutical companies [5]. Different approaches can be used to identify new drugs, for example, repurposing clinically approved drugs for a different condition, identifying new druggable targets by having a better understanding of the molecular targets of existing antileishmanial drugs, or by designing a better therapeutic based on structure activity studies using existing antileishmanial drugs.…”