Scynexis extends sleeping sickness collaboration to 2012

Published: 17-Dec-2008

Extends collaboration with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)


Scynexis, the US-based developer of medicines, has extended its collaboration with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to develop therapies for human African trypanosomiasis (also known as sleeping sickness) for a further three years.

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a fatal disease if not treated and threatens more than 50 million people in 36 countries. Few drugs currently exist for the treatment of either Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the disease and severe toxic side effects are a common problem. The difficulty of diagnosis, stage determination and increasing numbers of treatment failures pose additional clinical challenges.

The project between Scynexis and DNDi was initiated in 2006 and will now run through to March 2012. The collaboration includes partners at Pace University in New York.

The goal of this project is to progress molecules proven to be safe and active against HAT parasites in early-stage screening research through the first steps of regulatory safety assessment in the preclinical phase.

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