New antibiotic against river blindness and lymphatic filariasis pathogens

What are you looking for?

Bioreactors in the biotechnology center of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.

News

05/16/2024

Japanese fund supports research into the treatment of filarial infections

A team led by Prof. Achim Hoerauf, University Hospital Bonn (UKB), in cooperation with the University of Bonn and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), is developing the antibiotic corallopyronin A (CorA) as a treatment for the neglected tropical diseases river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. They have now succeeded to enter into a partnership with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai and to raise a large amount of funding. The team's aim is to develop a safe and sustainably effective drug against these worm diseases, which are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The people affected mainly live in Africa and tropical regions and urgently need active ingredients that kill the long-lived adult worms. The project is now being funded with around €5.6 million by the Japanese Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund.

Infections with worms from the filarial group, also known as filariasis, can lead to river blindness and, if left untreated, to elephantiasis - a disease in which extremities become greatly enlarged due to destruction of the lymphatic vessels. The lives of those affected are severely impaired. More than 21 million people in Africa are infected with the nematode Onchocerca volvulus, the causative agent of river blindness. Around one in ten of them go blind. In 2009, Prof. Achim Hoerauf and his team found an effective drug to combat the worms in the form of corallopyronin A. “This is a natural antibiotic that can be used successfully in patients, as it primarily targets the bacteria that live as symbionts in the worms and are responsible for their survival. As a result, the worms themselves are also destroyed,” says Hoerauf.

Clinical testing imminent

Corallopyronin A, which is derived from an environmental bacterium (the myxobacterium Corallococcus coralloides), was recognized as an effective antibiotic against staphylococci by scientists at the HZI in the 1980s. As a result of the new findings on its effectiveness against filariae, research into its use in humans began. At the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the research teams are now developing the substance into a drug. The antibiotic is effective against the endosymbionts of worms from the filarial group and numerous other bacteria. Translational research is currently in the final phase of preclinical testing and the first clinical trials are scheduled for 2025/2026. At the HZI, a biotechnological process has been established with which the active substance can be produced in sufficient quantities and purity for toxicity testing. Important milestones along the way were the development of a myxobacterial strain for the heterologous production of the active substance by Rolf Müller's Department “Microbial Natural Products” at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and the development of an industrial production process in Marc Stadler's Department “Microbial Drugs” at the HZI. In the meantime, the production process has been transferred to an industrial scale (15,000 liters). The HIPS is a site of the HZI in collaboration with Saarland University.

A manufacturing company, which is the world market leader for some cancer therapeutics and can also produce the antibiotic on an industrial scale for clinical trials, was recently contracted.

Characterization of the active substance and dosage in humans

As part of the funding from the GHIT fund, the active ingredient is to be produced in accordance with the strict requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and the final tests for possible side effects are to be completed in order to identify an initial dose for treatment in humans. “The new findings and the upcoming clinical trial phase of our research for use in humans represent great hope for those affected who cannot avoid infection in their environment and have no access to effective medication,” says Prof. Hoerauf. ”I am very pleased that a global company like Eisai is also involved in the field of neglected tropical diseases and has entered into this cooperation with us.”

The academic cooperation partners of the project are the University Hospital Bonn (Institute of Medical Microbiology,Immunology and Parasitology, Prof. Achim Hoerauf), the University of Bonn (Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, Prof. Karl G. Wagner), the HZI (Department “Microbial Drugs”, Prof. Marc Stadler) and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research (Department “Microbial Natural Products”, Prof. Rolf Müller).

Further Information:

Press release by the University Hospital Bonn

Press contact

Dr Charlotte Schwenner

Science Editor

+49 531 6181-1406 E-Mail

Research Groups

Locations

Facts & Figures

0 +

Employees

0 Mio.

Basic funding in 2024 (plus third-party funding)

Publications in 2024

HZI in Focus

We celebrate 60 years of HZI!

Research Groups

Virtual tour

Job portal

Multimedia & Podcast

Spin-Offs

Research stories

Research Program

One center - six locations

The HZI locations at a glance

The Sites of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research are distributed all over Germany. In addition to the main campus in Braunschweig, there are facilities in five other cities: Hamburg, Hanover, Saarbrücken, Würzburg and Greifswald.

Please note: Once you watch the map, data will be transmitted to Openstreetmap. For more information, see Openstreetmap Privacy.

One center - six locations

The HZI locations at a glance

Braunschweig

Hannover

Saarbrücken

HIPS

Würzburg

HIRI

Greifswald

HIOH

Hamburg

CSSB

News

05/16/2024