TB Drug Shows Potential to Target Visceral Leishmaniasis

An approved treatment for tuberculosis could also be a powerful tool against visceral leishmaniass researchers at the University of Dundee have found.

Visceral leishmaniasis, a disease which blights the developing world with 200,000 to 400,000 new cases and 48,000 deaths annually, is largely seen in six countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, South Sudan and Sudan. There are no vaccines available and current drug treatments all have serious limitations such as prolonged administration (mainly by injection), high cost, drug resistance, toxicity and potential for foetal malformations.

Researchers in the University’s School of Life Sciences discovered that the drug delamanid, recently approved for the treatment of tuberculosis, can cure a mouse model of visceral leishmaniasis at oral doses that may be achievable in patients.

Lead researcher Professor Alan Fairlamb, said, “There is an urgent requirement for safe, oral and cost-effective drugs for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. What we have found is that delamanid has the potential to be repurposed as a much-needed oral therapy for VL. The opportunity to use an existing approved drug for a new indication is an exciting and cost-effective way to treat this neglected disease of poverty.”

Also working alongside a team of scientists led by Dr Kevin Read in the University’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU), delamanid was seen to be active against the parasites which cause visceral leishmaniasis. It is thought to kill the parasites through conversion by an unknown enzyme to form toxic products.

“The next steps now are to identify the primary target of delamanid and look at suitable drug combinations to improve efficacy and safety, as well as slowing the emergence of resistance,” said Professor Fairlamb. “We are already entering discussions with downstream partners to initiate Phase II clinical trials.”

Results of the Dundee team’s research have been published in the journal eLife.