[New antimalarial drugs]

Area of Science:

• Malariology
• Pharmacology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Increasing Plasmodia resistance to existing antimalarials poses a significant global health challenge.
• The pipeline for novel antimalarial drugs has been limited, with few new agents introduced recently.
• Existing drug discovery efforts often lack targeted pharmacological research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the urgent need for new antimalarial drug discovery.
• To assess the current landscape of antimalarial drug development.
• To identify deficiencies in the clinical and biological evaluation of new antimalarial candidates.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent antimalarial drug introductions and ongoing investigations.
• Analysis of drug discovery approaches, distinguishing targeted research from others.
• Evaluation of current practices in clinical and biological assessment of antimalarials.

Main Results:

• Only two new antimalarials have emerged recently: artemether IM (Paluther) for severe malaria and a chloroquine-proguanil combination (Savarine) for prophylaxis.
• A limited number of new antimalarial molecules in development originate from targeted pharmacological research.
• Clinical and biological evaluations frequently deviate from international industrial guidelines.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need for accelerated and improved antimalarial drug discovery.
• Current evaluation methodologies for new antimalarials may compromise their potential for regulatory approval in Western countries.
• Ensuring adherence to international standards is crucial for the successful registration and deployment of new antimalarial therapies.