Takeda announces anti-malarial compound agreement

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has announced an agreement with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) to study two anti-malarial compounds.

It will research DSM265 and ELQ300 with the support of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, which is a $100 million (60 million pounds) Japanese government and pharmaceutical industry project to provide investment for research projects. 

Takeda said new compounds are "urgently needed" as resistance to existing medicines is growing.

Both DSM265 and ELQ300 are able to kill the malaria parasite by inhibiting essential enzymes. The former is currently undergoing phase I tests, while the latter is at the pre-clinical stage.

The agreement will see Takeda and MMV work together to study DSM265 and tackle a formulation issue concerning ELQ300. 

Takeda is already working with a number of product development partners, including MMV, in a project that will see the company's compound library analysed for candidate compounds that could potentially be used in new drugs for diseases that affect developing nations such as malaria and HIV.