Importantly, TAK-187 was effective at a dose that was both 10 times lower and administered less frequently than that of benznidazole. The researchers think this may be because the new compound is eliminated more slowly than benznidazole from the tr5eated animals and is also more resistant to metabolism by the mammalian host.
The latest study confirms results published in 2003 by Urbina and colleagues in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, when they found TAK-187 effective against drug-resistant strains of T.cruzi.
"These results, together with the previous publication, are very promising," said Roberto Docampo, a professor at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at University of Georgia. "The results strongly support the view that a more efficient treatment for Chagas disease could be available." But Louis Kirchhoff, a professor at University of Iowa, questions whether the drug is effective enough. "TAK-187 suppresses T-cruzi," he said. "What we are looking for is a compound that wipes out the parasite."
Urbina and colleagues now plan clinical trials to determine the safety and efficacy of TAK-187 in patients with Chagas disease. "We must now examine the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic doses of this drug and determine the optimal administration schedule, the treatment duration, and its possible combination with other drugs," said Basombro, who started studying the disease 28 years ago because it is so prevalent in his homeland of Argentina.
Takeda Chemical Company, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in Japan, has patented TAK-187 as a systemic antifungal agent. "The clinical development of this compound as an anti-T-cruzi agent in hum
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Contact: Jennifer Donovan
donovanj@hhmi.org
240-401-5783
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
31-Mar-2005