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The Disease
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes in more than 100 countries worldwide. It is estimated that Malaria causes $12 billion of economic loss to Africa alone each year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 500 million people become severely ill with malaria each year, many of them children. Malaria attacks the blood and internal organs of infected people and is a leading cause of disability and death in affected countries. An estimated one million people die each year of malaria, with 90% of cases occurring in Africa, where a child dies every 30 seconds of the disease, according to World Vision. Malaria disproportionately affects the poor who cannot afford treatment or who have limited access to health care. Malaria infections are estimated to cost the economies of sub-Saharan Africa at least $12 billion annually from the direct costs of malaria prevention and treatment as well as indirect economic costs associated with the disease.
Current Treatment
Early diagnosis and treatment can shorten the duration of the disease and prevent death or the development of debilitating complications. However, the malaria-causing parasite's resistance to current medicines continues to undermine malaria control efforts.
Upstream’s Research & Developent
Our first generation of compounds has shown positive results for in vitro efficacy as well as for in vivo safety. Current tests are underway at Makarere university to test the in vivo efficacy of our compounds. Researchers at the university have reported that our anti-malarial candidates were well tolerated, with no signs of serious toxicity at likely therapeutic dosages suggested by initial in vitro efficacy experiments. Upstream reported in February that these initial efficacy tests suggested anti-malarial activity in the nanomolar range. Activity in this range in a new class of anti-malarial drugs has the potential to represent an important advance in the treatment of resistant disease.
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