Africa: Potential New Class Of Antimalarials Now Open Source

This week, MMV hands the triazolopyrazines and their key data over to Dr Mat Todd at the University of Sydney, where research on these potential antimalarials will continue for all the world to see as part of the Open Source Malaria project.

The triazolopyrazines have already demonstrated promising activity in laboratory models of malaria. They are thought to act by sending the malaria parasite's ion balance into disarray. The compounds affect sodium homeostasis in Plasmodium falciparum and are believed to inhibit the sodium pump (PfATP4), which the parasite uses to expel sodium from its "body". This inhibition causes an intolerable change in acidity inside the parasite leading to its death.