Repurposing as a strategy for the discovery of new anti-leishmanials: the-state-of-the-art.
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania for which there is a paucity of effective viable non-toxic drugs. There are 1·3 million new cases each year causing considerable socio-economic hardship, best measured in 2·4 million disability adjusted life years, with greatest impact on the poorest communities, which means that desperately needed new antileishmanial treatments have to be both affordable and accessible. Established medicines with cheaper and faster development times may hold the cure for this neglected tropical disease. This concept of using old drugs for new diseases may not be novel but, with the ambitious target of controlling or eradicating tropical diseases by 2020, this strategy is still an important one. In this review, we will explore the current state-of-the-art of drug repurposing strategies in the search for new treatments for leishmaniasis.
['Charlton|Rebecca L|RL|', 'Rossi-Bergmann|Bartira|B|', 'Denny|Paul W|PW|', 'Steel|Patrick G|PG|']
D000818:Animals D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents D055808:Drug Discovery D058492:Drug Repositioning D006801:Humans D007891:Leishmania D007896:Leishmaniasis D058069:Neglected Diseases
repurposing leishmaniasis drug discovery repositioning