BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most neglected parasitic diseases causing large scale mortality and morbidity among the poorest of the poor in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to describe the potential and the (lack of) current impact of newly developed treatments on the control of VL. It describes how the problem of an empty research pipeline is addressed, and discusses the emerging threat of incurable HIV/VL coinfection. METHODS: The literature was searched for drugs used in VL. CONCLUSION: Research and development of VL drugs has received a financial boost but no new drugs are expected in the next 5 years. Only three new and highly effective treatments have been licensed in the past 10 years. These remain, however, largely inaccessible as VL control programs in the developing world are lacking. This is deserving of immediate and urgent attention, especially in the context of the rapidly expanding HIV/VL coinfection.
BACKGROUND:Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most neglected parasitic diseases causing large scale mortality and morbidity among the poorest of the poor in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to describe the potential and the (lack of) current impact of newly developed treatments on the control of VL. It describes how the problem of an empty research pipeline is addressed, and discusses the emerging threat of incurable HIV/VL coinfection. METHODS: The literature was searched for drugs used in VL. CONCLUSION: Research and development of VL drugs has received a financial boost but no new drugs are expected in the next 5 years. Only three new and highly effective treatments have been licensed in the past 10 years. These remain, however, largely inaccessible as VL control programs in the developing world are lacking. This is deserving of immediate and urgent attention, especially in the context of the rapidly expanding HIV/VL coinfection.
Authors: David Moreno; Daniel Plano; Ylenia Baquedano; Antonio Jiménez-Ruiz; Juan Antonio Palop; Carmen Sanmartín Journal: Parasitol Res Date: 2010-10-05 Impact factor: 2.289
Authors: Susan Wyllie; Stephen Patterson; Laste Stojanovski; Frederick R C Simeons; Suzanne Norval; Robert Kime; Kevin D Read; Alan H Fairlamb Journal: Sci Transl Med Date: 2012-02-01 Impact factor: 17.956
Authors: Luis Carvalho; Juan Román Luque-Ortega; José Ignacio Manzano; Santiago Castanys; Luis Rivas; Francisco Gamarro Journal: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Date: 2010-09-13 Impact factor: 5.191
Authors: François Noël; Paulo Henrique Cotrim Pimenta; Anderson Rouge Dos Santos; Erick Carlos Loureiro Tomaz; Luis Eduardo Menezes Quintas; Carlos Roland Kaiser; Claudia Lucia Martins Silva; Jean-Pierre Férézou Journal: Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol Date: 2010-11-19 Impact factor: 3.000