Scientific Publications-Archive-Neglected-Diseases

2005

Antitrypanosomal, Antileishmanial, and Antimalarial Activities of Quaternary Arylalkylammonium 2-Amino-4-Chlorophenyl Phenyl Sulfides, a New Class of Trypanothione Reductase Inhibitor, and of N-Acyl Derivatives of 2-Amino-4 Chlorophenyl Phenyl Sulfide by Parveen S, Khan MO, Austin SE, Croft SL, Yardley V, Rock P, Douglas KT. J Med Chem. 2005 Dec 15;48(25):8087-97.
Quaternization of the nitrogen atom of 2-amino-4-chlorophenyl phenyl sulfide analogues of chlorpromazine improved inhibition ~40-fold (3’,4’-dichlorobenzyl-[5-chloro-2 phenylsulfanylphenylamino)-propyl]-dimethylammonium chloride inhibited trypanothione reductase from Trypanosoma cruzi with a linear competitive Ki value of 1.7 ( 0.2 íM). The phenothiazine and diaryl sulfide quaternary compounds were also powerful antimalarials, providing a new structural framework for antimalarial design.
Click here to access the full article

Government action needed to step up research and development for world's most neglected diseases by Pecoul B. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2005 Dec;3(6):841-3.
Neglected and most neglected diseases affect millions of people in the world's poorest countries, yet we do not have safe, affordable, and field-adapted vaccines, diagnostics and drugs to tackle them.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Public-private partnership: from there to here by Croft SL. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Oct; 99 Suppl 1:S9-14.
Major changes in research and development (R&D) for drugs to treat tropical and neglected diseases have occurred in the past five years. Public-private partnerships have proved that they can move compounds quickly through the R&D pipeline. The challenge is to ensure that the products are delivered to the people who need them and to ensure that scientists in endemic countries are involved in the whole process.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

DNDi in the British Medical Journal, July 2005: Prioritising Neglected Diseases Related to Poverty by Rhona MacDonald. BMJ. 2005 Jul; 331:12.
Bernard Pécoul, director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, tells Rhona MacDonald how his organisation is hoping to help millions of people living in poverty worldwide.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative. Wasunna KM. Afr J Health Sci. 2005 Jan-Jun;12(1-2):i-ii.
Click here to access the full article


2004

New Drugs for Neglected Diseases: From Pipeline to Patients by Bernard Pécoul. PLoS Med. 2004 Oct; 1(1):e6. Epub 2004 Oct 19.
In wealthy countries,state-funded research has yielded breakthroughs in molecular biology,chemistry,and engineering.These advances have been taken up by the pharmaceutical industry and applied to drug development for a growing range of illnesses and conditions.As a result, patients have access to new drugs that are better tolerated, more specific,and more effective than old ones.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]


2003

Recent advances in research and control of malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis and schistosomiasis by Croft SL, Vivas L, Brooker S. East Mediterr Health J. 2003 Jul;9(4):518-33. Review.
In the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are the parasitic diseases of major importance. Our review focuses on recent advances in the control and treatment of these diseases with particular reference to diagnosis, chemotherapy, vaccines, vector and environmental control.
Click here to access the full article

Initiative launched to develop drugs for neglected diseases by Frankish H. Lancet. 2003 Jul 12; 362(9378):135.
A new initiative that aims to develop drugs to tackle diseases that affect the world's poorest people was launched in Geneva on July 3. The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) aims to identify drugs to combat diseases such as trypanosomiasis, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease, which affect more than 350 million people every year.
Click here to access the full article


2002

Reflection & Reaction by Alimuddin Zumla, Lancet Infect Dis 2002 July, 2:393.
Recent global partnership initiatives have focused on stimulating further interest in the development and provision of drugs for the world's top three killer infectious diseases: AIDS/HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. The “most neglected” diseases (where there are no affordable, effective, easy to use medicines available) continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. This paper is a short introduction to a series of articles outlining research and development priorities for sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis and malaria.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

The world's most neglected diseases. Ignored by the pharmaceutical industry and by public­private partnerships by Yamey G, Torreele E. BMJ. 2002 Jul 27;325(7357):176-7.
The article discusses issues about the “most neglected” diseases as still being ignored not just by the pharmaceutical industry but also by public-private partnerships.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Drug development for neglected diseases: a deficient market and a public-health policy failure by Trouiller, P. et al., June 2002, Lancet, 359: 2188–94.
There is a lack of effective, safe, and affordable pharmaceuticals to control infectious diseases that cause high mortality and morbidity among poor people in the developing world. This paper analyses outcomes of pharmaceutical research and development over the past 25 years, and reviews current public and private initiatives aimed at correcting the imbalance in research and development that leaves diseases that occur predominantly in the developing world largely unaddressed.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]


2001

Neglected diseases of global importance by Ford N, Torreele E. JAMA. 2001 Dec 19;286(23):2943-4.
In this letter to the editor, the authors raise the need of increased responsibility from the private and public sectors in order to ensure that people’s health needs are met, and the importance of non-for-profit drug development initiatives to address the imbalance in the burden of infectious diseases between rich and poor countries.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Drugs for neglected diseases: a failure of the market and a public health failure? By Trouiller P, Torreele E, Olliaro P, White N, Foster S, Wirth D, Pecoul B. Trop Med Int Health. 2001 Nov;6(11):945-51. Review.
Infectious diseases cause the suffering of hundreds of millions of people, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Effective, affordable and easy-to-use medicines to fight these diseases are nearly absent. Although science and technology are sufficiently advanced to provide the necessary medicines, very few new drugs are being developed. An urgent reorientation of priorities in drug development and health policy is needed. New and creative strategies involving both the public and the private sector are needed to ensure that affordable medicines for today's neglected diseases are developed.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Public-private partnerships for health: their main targets, their diversity, and their future directions. Widdus R. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(8):713-20. Epub 2001 Oct 24.
The global burden of disease, especially the part attributable to infectious diseases, disproportionately affects populations in developing countries. Inadequate access to pharmaceuticals plays a role in perpetuating this disparity. A large variety of public-private partnerships, combining the skills and resources of a wide range of collaborators, have arisen for product development, disease control through product donation and distribution, or the general strengthening or coordination of health services. Suggestions are made for public, private, and joint activities that could help to improve the access of poor populations to the pharmaceuticals and health services they need.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]

Fatal imbalance: the crisis in research and development for drugs for neglected diseases by MSF Campaign for access to medicine, Drugs for Neglected Diseases working group
Click here to downlad the full report [PDF]

1999

Access to Essential Drugs in Poor Countries – A Lost Battle ? ” by Pécoul, B. et al., JAMA, January 27, 1999—Vol 281, No. 4.
This article focuses on the problems of access to quality drugs for the treatment of diseases that predominantly affect the developing world: (1) poor-quality and counterfeit drugs; (2) lack of availability of essential drugs due to fluctuating production or prohibitive cost; (3) need to develop field-based drug research to determine optimum utilization and remotivate research and development for new drugs for the developing world; and (4) potential consequences of recent World Trade Organization agreements on the availability of old and new drugs.
Click here to download the full article [PDF]