Publications

There is a shift in antimalarial drug discovery from phenotypic screening toward target-based approaches, as more potential drug targets are being validated in species. Given the high attrition rate and high cost of drug discovery, it is important to select the targets most likely to deliver progressible drug candidates. In…

The proteasome is a potential antimalarial drug target. We have identified a series of amino-amide boronates that are potent and specific inhibitors of the 20S proteasome (20S) β5 active site and that exhibit fast-acting antimalarial activity. They selectively inhibit the growth of compared with a human cell line and exhibit…

We identify the Plasmodium falciparum acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (PfAcAS) as a druggable target, using genetic and chemical validation. In vitro evolution of resistance with two antiplasmodial drug-like compounds (MMV019721 and MMV084978) selects for mutations in PfAcAS. Metabolic profiling of compound-treated parasites reveals changes in acetyl-CoA levels for both compounds. Genome editing…

Widespread Plasmodium falciparum resistance to first-line antimalarials underscores the vital need to develop compounds with novel modes of action and identify new druggable targets. Here, we profile five compounds that potently inhibit P. falciparum asexual blood stages. Resistance selection studies with three carboxamide-containing compounds, confirmed by gene editing and conditional…

The Malaria Drug Accelerator (MalDA) is a consortium of 15 leading scientific laboratories. The aim of MalDA is to improve and accelerate the early antimalarial drug discovery process by identifying new, essential, druggable targets. In addition, it seeks to produce early lead inhibitors that may be advanced into drug candidates…

Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) has been clinically validated as a target for the development of new antimalarials. Experience with clinical candidate triazolopyrimidine DSM265 () suggested that DHODH inhibitors have great potential for use in prophylaxis, which represents an unmet need in the malaria drug discovery portfolio for endemic countries, particularly in…

In malaria, chemical genetics is a powerful method for assigning function to uncharacterized genes. MMV085203 and GNF-Pf-3600 are two structurally related napthoquinone phenotypic screening hits that kill both blood- and sexual-stage parasites in the low nanomolar to low micromolar range. In order to understand their mechanism of action, parasites from…

Malaria control programs continue to be threatened by drug resistance. To identify new antimalarials, we conducted a phenotypic screen and identified a novel tetrazole-based series that shows fast-kill kinetics and a relatively low propensity to develop high-level resistance. Preliminary structure-activity relationships were established including identification of a subseries of related…