• Universitat de València
• University of Granada

• Manuel Sánchez Moreno
• Clotilde Marín Sánchez
• Francisco Arévalo Olmo

There are a number of serious human diseases caused by parasites, such as Chagas disease (caused by Trypanosoma cruzi) and leishmaniasis (caused by Leishmania spp.) that infect millions of people every year. Due to the public health impact of these parasites and the fact that existing treatments for these diseases are inadequate, there is a need to find new and more effective drugs, as existing ones are highly toxic and have not proven to be effective in the chronic stage of the disease. In addition, resistance to these drugs is increasing, mainly in the case of leishmaniasis.

Researchers from the Universitat de València and the University of Granada have demonstrated the use of macrocyclic scorpiando-type compounds for the treatment of parasitic diseases, specifically Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, both in vitro and in vivo, in mice. The synthesised compounds are structurally different from the reference drugs, have about ten times lower toxicity and show antiparasitic activity in both the acute and chronic phases against Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.

The main application of the technology is in the pharmaceutical and/or veterinary sector, as a drug or active ingredient for the treatment of parasitic diseases in humans and/or animals.

The main benefits of the invention are:

• Lower treatment cost and risk associated with the development of side effects due to lower IC50 value compared to existing drugs.
• Lower toxicity than reference compounds for the treatment of Chagas disease and leishmaniasis.
• Antiparasitic activity in the chronic stage of the disease.

• Patent granted