conceptual period

Recipient: Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research – HZI) 
Funding: Go-Bio initial (01/10/2022 to 30/09/2023, EUR 99,993)

Malaria kills around 500,000 people every year and threatens the health of about half of the world's population, especially due to increased resistance to standard therapies. As a result there is a great and urgent need for innovative medicines. For such drugs the natural substance chlorotonil is promising as it has an excellent effect against the disease-causing malaria parasite, even against resistant forms. The special feature of the natural product class is that it is effective against all blood stages of the parasite, which distinguishes it from other preparations on the market. Structurally and in terms of its mechanism of action, the substance also differs from already approved drugs. 

The strong effect was shown in animal models: The serum concentration was increased and the parasites were almost completely reduced. The aim of the ChloroMalaria project is to prepare the project for therapeutic proof of concept (PoC) in the sense of funding. First, the substances are patented before experienced partners help to find ways into clinical testing and commercialisation, e.g., by way of implementing licensing schemes. During the exploratory phase critical experiments for the progress of development will also be identified in order to address possible obstacles in good time. 

feasibility stage

Recipient: Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH (Helmholtz Centre for InfectionResearch)
Funding: GO-Bio initial feasibility phase 3 (01/10/2023 to 30/09/2025, EUR 994,055.00)

In view of the increasing incidence of resistance and high mortality in endemic areas, there is an urgent need to develop new therapies for malaria. The collaborative ChloroMalaria-2 project aims to commercialise the natural product derivative dehalogenil as a new antimalarial drug. Dehalogenil is characterised by a unique effect against sexual and asexual stages of the malaria pathogen. No resistance to the active ingredient has to this point been generated under laboratory conditions, making it an extremely promising candidate for malaria therapy.

In order to achieve the desired commercialisation, the project investigates the activity profile of dehalogenil in vitro and in vivo (University Hospital Tübingen). On the other hand semisynthetic production is being optimised in a targeted manner to enable cost-effective production and ensure safe use (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research / Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland). This work provides the basis for developing dehalogenil preclinically and then testing it in Phase 1 clinical trials. The long-term goal of the project is to spin off a start-up company.