Novel Antimalarial Drug Shows Promise in First Human Trial

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Results from the first human trial of the novel antimalarial drug SJ733 are published in The Lancet.

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Transcript:

Results from the first human trial of a novel antimalarial drug have this week been published in The Lancet. The drug, called SJ733, works against P. falciparum malaria parasites by targeting a protein called ATP4, which blocks their ability to remove excess sodium from an infected red blood cell – a process critical to parasite survival. The first part of the trial assessed the safety profile of the drug in the absence of malaria parasites, while the second part assessed the efficacy of the drug at different doses after inoculating healthy malaria-naive adults with malaria-infected red blood cells. Both 150mg and 600mg of SJ733 were safe and well-tolerated and resulted in rapid clearance of malaria from the infected individuals, suggesting this could be promising new antimalarial drug.

Sources:

Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Antimalarial Efficacy of a Novel Plasmodium falciparum ATP4 Inhibitor SJ733: A First-In-Human and Induced Blood-Stage Malaria Phase 1a/b Trial

Image Credits: NIAID [Flickr]

Scientific Advisor: Katharine Collins, Radboud University Medical Centre