HOUSTON (NNN-Bernama) -- A new drug called SynriamTM considered to be a breakthrough in malaria cases has been approved for treatment of adults in India, Press Trust of India reported.
Invented by a team of researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre (UNMC), the medicine is considered to be a significant invention in the wake of traditional drugs increasingly proving ineffective against the deadly malarial parasite.
Jonathan Vennerstrom, who led an international team to create the drug compound leading to development of SynriamTM, believes the drug will play a key role in reducing the number of deaths from malaria.
"With more than 200 million cases of malaria each year, the potential impact this drug could have on saving and improving lives worldwide is significant," said Vennerstrom, a professor at the UNMC College of Pharmacy.
Tim Wells, chief scientific officer of Geneva-based not-for-profit
organisation Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), said the completion of a phase III study in Indian adults and the approval of the combination by the Indian regulators was a major milestone.
"We look forward to more data from patients in Africa and from studies with children, since this is where the vast majority of the disease is," he said.
Courtney Fletcher, dean of UNMC College of Pharmacy, said another benefit of arterolane, the key component of the new drug, is that it is a synthetic medicine.
"This is an important advance in anti-malaria drugs. Since it's a synthetic drug, it doesn't depend on the availability of a natural plant source like some other anti-malarials, which also makes it less expensive," said Fletcher.
The drug is believed to have fewer side effects and does not need to be taken with food. -- NNN-BERNAMA
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