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news.Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai has entered a collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and University of Liverpool (UoL) to jointly discover new drugs effective against lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis (river blindness), both major types of filariasis.
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As part of the deal, Eisai will work with LSTM and UoL to discover and develop new drug candidates that efficiently eliminate the bacteria Wolbachia.
LSTM is a non-profit institution aimed to develop and implement new tools and technologies for the control and treatment of tropical diseases, and UoL is a world-class academy that has made major contributions toward understanding the mechanisms of drug action of several classes of anti-parasitic drugs.
Wolbachia live inside the parasitic worms, known as filariae, which cause lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis, the two most infectious diseases.
As filariae are dependent on these Wolbachia for growth, development, reproduction and survival, these worms can be effectively eradicated by first removing the Wolbachia inside them.
The company said that current anti-filarial treatments are effective against larvae and microfilariae, and they require many years of consistent, annual mass drug administration in a given endemic community in order to also remove the adult worms.
Anti-Wolbachia therapy will lead to worm sterility and effective worm eradication, which will help in reducing treatment timeframes and offering successful therapeutic outcomes.
Image: Eisai head office in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: courtesy of Arthena