AntiMal 2nd ESAC Review: March 2009

The goal of the AntiMal project is to establish a portfolio of new antimalarial drugs from within the European scientific community and to select candidates from within the portfolio for progression to “first into man” studies within the 5 year programme.

 

An external scientific advisory committee (ESAC) was established to assess the scientific progress of the individual workpackages on an ongoing basis. The committee consists of eight experts in the field of malaria and drug development who are independent of the scientific research funded by AntiMal.

 

The second AntiMal review was held on the 3rd and 4th March 2009. The feedback from ESAC and the EU Commission on the progress of the AntiMal project was very positive. Many workpackages have progressed well since the last review and the African capacity building initiative was highlighted as a very positive aspect of the programme.

 

As a result of the review, the following workpackages were selected for further funding after month 42:-

WP
Title
PI*
Institution
4.1.1.1
 Novel 4-aminoquinolines 1 Steve ward LSTM
4.1.1.2
 Novel 4-aminoquinolines 2 Donatella Taramelli UMIL
4.1.2.1
 Synthetic peroxides Paul O'Neill UOL
4.1.3.1
 Discovery and selection of an orally-potent bisthiazolium antimalarial Henri Vial CNRS
4.1.4.1
 Protein kinase targets: validation, screening and structure Christian Doerig INSERM
4.1.4.5
 Development of novel bisarylurea compounds with high efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum Michael Lanzer UOH
4.1.4.7
 Novel chalcones as antimalarials Arsalan Kharazmi LICA Pharma
4.1.5.8
 Platform for efficacy studies and potential drug combinations to delay resistance development Livia Vivas LSHTM

In addition, the four following workpackages will also continue:-

WP
Title
PI*
Institution
TTC1
 Novel antifolate based antimalarials Alexis Nzila KEMRI
TTC2
 Novel antimalarials from natural products Chris Parkinson CSIR
4.1.1.4
 Strengthening the DMPK platform at AiBST and medicinal chemistry at UCT Collen Masimirembwa AiBST
4.1.2.5
 Assessment of the antimalarial activity of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Burkina Faso Souleymane Sanon CNRFP

The clusters will be restructured as follows:-

Cluster
WP
Title PI* Institution

1

 4.1.1.1 Novel 4-aminoquinolines 1 Steve Ward LSTM
4.1.1.2 Novel 4-aminoquinolines 2 Donatella Taramelli UMIL
4.1.1.4 Strengthening the DMPK platform at AiBST and medicinal chemistry at UCT Collen Masimirembwa AiBST

2,3,5

 4.1.2.1 Synthetic peroxides Paul O'Neill UOL
4.1.2.5 Assessment of the antimalarial activity of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Burkina Faso Souleymane Sanon CNRFP
TTC2 Novel antimalarials from natural products Chris Parkinson CSIR
4.1.3.1 Discovery and selection of an orally-potent bisthiazolium antimalarial Henri Vial CNRS
4.1.5.8 Platform for efficacy studies and potential drug combinations to delay resistance development Livia Vivas LSHTM

4

 4.1.4.1 Protein kinase targets: validation, screening and structure Christian Doerig INSERM
4.1.4.5 Development of novel bisarylurea compounds with high efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum Michael Lanzer UOH
4.1.4.7 Novel chalcones as antimalarials Arsalan Kharazmi LICA Pharma
TTC1
 Novel antifolate based antimalarials Alexis Nzila KEMRI

* Principle Investigator