Insects and mosquitoes are the most common carrier for a topical disease. These insects may carry a parasite, bacterium or virus that is infectious to humans and animals which may cause the disease. It is transmitted by an insect bite, which causes the infectious agent to transfer to the host through subcutaneous blood exchange.
Some are spread through livestock, contaminated drinking water and even through the soil. Vaccines are not available for some of the diseases, and many do not have cures.
AstraZeneca and DNDi to collaborate on drug screening for neglected tropical diseases
AstraZeneca and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) today announce an agreement to collaborate on drug-compound screening for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness, three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide. Novel drug candidates to emerge from this collaboration will bolster the drug development pipeline for new medicines urgently needed by millions of patients.
In the new partnership, AstraZeneca will provide to DNDi 15,000 compounds that have the potential for activity against leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness. The screening activities, coordinated by DNDi, will be performed at Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK). If active compounds against any of the three diseases are identified as 'hits', DNDi and AstraZeneca will jointly assess their potential as starting points for future medicines.
