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LEISHMANIASIS
The Disease
Leishmaniasis is a severe, geographically widespread parasitic disease caused by a protozoan flagellate and spread by the bite of infected sand flies. There are several different forms of leishmaniasis – cutaneous, mucocutaneous, diffuse cutaneous and visceral. The cutaneous type causes skin sores, the mucocutaneous form causes disfiguring lesions of the oral cavity area and the visceral type affects internal organs such as the spleen, liver and bone marrow. Visceral leishmaniasis can be lethal if untreated.
Leishmaniasis is increasing in incidence with an estimated two million cases per year, and 350 million people in 88 countries are estimated to be at risk. More than 90% of the world's cases of visceral leishmaniasis are in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, and Brazil. Leishmaniasis is also found in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Current Treatment
The treatment for all forms of Leishmaniasis is lacking. The first line of therapy was first introduced more than 70 years ago and is still the predominant treatment. This therapy, a group of compounds called pentavalent antimonials, are unstable and have substantial toxicities.
Upstream’s Research & Development
Our Leishmaniasis testing has shown a number of positive results. To date, we’ve had positive in vitro results and, in March of 2008, we announced the results of the first in vivo safety tests. Our initial test results show that twenty of our drug candidates are demonstrating good safety profiles. These toxicity screening studies were conducted at Makerere University in Uganda where researchers reported that the Leishamniasis candidates were tolerated at doses that were many times higher than the expected therapeutic dose levels, up to 25 mg/kg, with no signs of serious toxicity. These same candidates are now being subjected to in vivo efficacy tests at Makerere University while a second generation of compounds is currently undergoing in vitro testing at McGill University in Quebec.
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