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Public-private partnerships: Fostering biomedical developments in malaria vaccines and leishmaniasis treatment

15 Aug 2008

Muza Gondwe

Source: Upstream Biosciences Inc. (see original article)
Source: Sanaria Inc. (see original article)

Upstream Biosciences Inc., a Canadian company is collaborating with Makerere University in Uganda to evaluate the efficacy in animals of 20 potential drug treatments for leishmaniasis. 12 million people worldwide are believed to be infected with leishmania  (http://www.who.int/leishmaniasis/burden/en/) Parasite resistance to existing drugs is reducing the effectiveness of current treatments. Upstream has successfully demonstrated in vitro and in vivo efficacy (in animals) of potential drugs for leishmaniasis, trypanaosomiasis, and malaria. The study will take place at Mulago Hospital, Kampala under the direction of Dr. Joseph Olobo, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Department of Parasitology and Microbiology at Makerere University.

A multiyear $600,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant has been awarded to Sanaria Inc., US and University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), US to support research into the production of genetically engineered mosquitoes that can enhance Sanaria’s development of a malaria vaccine. The grant has been provided by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) of the National Institute of Health. Dr. David O'Brochta, Director of UMBI’s Insect Transformation Facility will be spearheading the research that will produce large numbers of malaria parasites in mosquitoes.

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