Antimalarial compound discovered at Dundee has potential to simplify malaria medicines

An antimalarial compound invented at the University of Dundee has been shown to be both effective and have a favourable safety profile in an early-stage clinical trial with adults and adolescents in Africa, a step forward in potentially simplifying dosing regimens for malaria treatment and prevention.

Cabamiquine is a novel drug-like molecule which was discovered by scientists in the Drug Discovery Unit at the Faculty of Life Sciences in Dundee, with financial and scientific support from Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

In combination with the commonly used drug pyronaridine, it has been shown in a Phase II clinical trial to have a very promising benefit/risk profile in adults and adolescents, supporting further development for this combination therapy in larger trials and in children. 

The results of the study have been published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The trial was conducted by the pharmaceutical company Merck, as part of the PAMAfrica consortium. It was co-funded by the EDCTP2 Programme, supported by the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Dr Beatriz Baragana, one of the Dundee team members who discovered the cabamiquine compound, alongside Professor Ian Gilbert and Professor Kevin Read, said, “This is an exciting step forward for a compound which has great potential to simplify dosing regimens for malaria, a disease which causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year.

“All of the initial work that ultimately resulted in the discovery of cabamiquine was performed here in Dundee, with support and funding from Medicines for Malaria Venture.

“We are delighted to see how the compound, when administered with pyronaridine, is progressing into a potential malaria medicine, giving hope to the millions of people affected by malaria every year.”

Malaria remains a global health challenge, causing an estimated 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths in 2024, figures which have been rising in part due to growing resistance to medicines used in malaria control. 

“Novel treatment and prevention regimens are urgently needed with simplified dosing to enable effective case management and to support long-term malaria control and elimination goals,” says Paul Willis, MMV’s Vice President of Drug Discovery and Preclinical Safety. MMV intends to take cabamiquine-pyronaridine forward for further development.

“The benefits of this compound are not only that it looks to be effective, with a good benefit/risk profile, but it can also be delivered in a single dose, which is an important factor when you are treating a disease that occurs commonly in areas where consistent delivery of healthcare can be challenging,” said Professor Gilbert, Head of the Drug Discovery Unit.

The Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee collaborates with partners to translate world-class biology research into novel drug targets and candidate drugs to address unmet medical needs.