Failed psoriasis medicine a potential malarial cure

A failed study into a remedy for skin disease psoriasis may be the breakthrough for a cure for malaria, according to RadboudUMC in Nijmegen. One of the Dutch researchers found a reference to possibly tackling malaria in the same way the failed psoriasis remedy worked in a book from 1946, and the method shows promise, the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf reported.

"The potential medicine, a pantothenamide molecule, is very similar to a molecule that occurs naturally in the malaria parasite. As a result, the parasite uses the medicine in almost the same way in the metabolism. With the big difference that this molecule causes problems for the metabolism of the single-cell malaria parasite, which dies at a result", RadboudUMC said.

Even a single dose of the medicine already seems to have an effect on the malaria parasite, according to one of the researchers[1]. "Moreover, it is cheap to produce and stops the transfer of the malaria parasite from humans to mosquitos. With that, if it grows into a fully-fledged medicine, it can also contribute to the eradication of malaria."

Of course, the medicine is still a way away from the market. Clinical research must first be done to determine its safety and effective doses.

[1] Schalkwijk et al: Antimalarial pantothenamide metabolites target acetyl–coenzyme A biosynthesis in Plasmodium falciparum in Science Translational Medicine - 2019