Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.
Fexinidazole is already in phase 1 clinical trials for a related disease - African sleeping sickness - but a research team at Dundee including Dr Susan Wyllie, Professor Alan Fairlamb and colleagues has identified it as having potential in treating leishmaniasis.
Their research has been published by the journal Science Translational Medicine, and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Tests in mice showed that the drug has a greater than 98% rate of suppressing infection of leishmaniasis, comparable to current treatments such as miltefosine and Pentostam.
These and other existing treatment options all suffer from disadvantages; they are not always safe, effective or easy to administer. The only oral drug miltefosine cannot be given to women of child-bearing age due to a substantial risk of birth defects; other drugs are costly and have to be given by injection. Thus there is a continuing need for safe and cost-effective drugs suitable for use in resource-poor settings.
Ref : http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2012/february12/leishmaniasis.htm
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