Drugs to Treat Malaria Targeting the Plasmodial Surface Anion Channel

Malaria is a life-threatening disease transmitted through the bite of mosquitoes infected with malaria parasites. In 2012, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria and an estimated 660,000 deaths, mostly among young children in sub-Saharan Africa. With the effectiveness of current drugs diminishing as resistant strains of malaria have emerged, new drugs are urgently needed. The plasmodial surface anion channel (PSAC) found on the surface of red blood cells infected with malaria parasites offers an opportunity to develop new drugs to treat and prevent malaria. The channel allows malaria parasites to live and grow inside the red cells of infected hosts. PSAC was first discovered at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). 

NIH technology transfer offices used conventional and unconventional mechanisms to develop and transfer the technology. Through funding under a conditional gift from nonprofit organization Medicines for Malaria Venture, the NIAID laboratory conducted screens of chemical libraries to identify small molecule inhibitors of PSAC. In response to an NIH advertisement, an anti-infective company, Microbiotix, Inc., approached scientists at NIAID and eventually entered into a partnership under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to develop several chemical scaffolds. Further collaboration is ongoing under a Small Business Innovation Research Grant awarded to the company.

As a result of technology transfer efforts, key scientists in the public and private sectors are collaborating to address an urgent unmet public health need to develop new drugs to treat and prevent a disease that burdens large populations worldwide. These efforts are in fulfillment of NIH’s mission and advance drug development in an area where there is no market incentive due to a lack of perceived profitability.

Awardees

NIH - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• Dr. Sanjay Desai
• Dr. Michael Mowatt
• S. Dana Hsu
• Charles Rainwater
• Dr. Mukul Ranjan

NIH - Office of Technology Transfer

• Dr. Kevin Chang