Scientific Articles

There is a shift in antimalarial drug discovery from phenotypic screening toward target-based approaches, as more potential drug targets are being validated in Plasmodium species. Given the high attrition rate and high cost of drug discovery, it is important to select the targets most likely to deliver progressible drug candidates. In this paper, we describe the criteria that we consider important for selecting targets for antimalarial drug discovery.

The causative agent of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, has been developing resistance to several drugs worldwide since more than five decades. Initially, resistance was toward drugs such as chloroquine, pyrimethamine, sulfadoxine, mefloquine, and quinine. Research studies are now reporting the resistance of parasites to the most effective and novel drug used against malaria infection worldwide, that is, artemisinin; for this reason, the first-line treatment strategy, including artemisinin combination therapy, is becoming unsuccessful in areas where drug resistance is highly prevalent.

The scale up of indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide treated nets have contributed significantly to global reductions in malaria prevalence over the last two decades. However, widespread pyrethroid resistance has necessitated the use of new and more expensive insecticides for IRS. Partial IRS with pirimiphos-methyl in experimental huts and houses in a village-wide trial was evaluated against Anopheles gambiae s.l. in northern Ghana.