Novel drug may help treat neglected tropical disease

Scientists have developed a novel drug that could be used to treat neglected tropical diseases which can lead to severe disability and affect over 157 million people globally.

The researchers from University of Liverpool in the UK have successfully optimised a hit from a whole cell screening of a 10,000-compound library to deliver the first novel fully synthetic and rationally designed anti-Wolbachia drug, AWZ1066S, which could potentially be used to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF).

"The identification represents the first potential designer drug of its kind, specifically targeting Wolbachia as a curative treatment for onchocerciasis and LF," said Steve Ward, a researcher at University of Liverpool in the UK.

"The candidate selection status of this compound represents the successful conclusion to a multidisciplinary teams efforts to generate the first synthetic drug specifically developed to target this bacteria and we are really excited to take the compound to the .