Projects
Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors for Neglected Parasitic Diseases PDE4NPD
Lead identification and optimization, to develop novel drugs for neglected diseases
The PDE4NPD consortium aims to develop novel treatments for neglected parasitic diseases (NPDs), with a specific focus on four diseases that significantly contribute to the NPD medical burden: sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and schistosomiasis. The consortium brings together experts from throughout the world, from academia and from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
€7.6 M
Funding: European Commission FP7
10
partners European, African & South American
About PDE4NPD
The Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors for Neglected Parasitic Diseases (PDE4NPD) drug discovery platform specifically targets parasitic phosphodiesterases (PDEs), enzymes that were previously shown to be essential for parasite survival. Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) make good drug targets because most of them have a unique architecture at the active site. Human PDEs have been widely studied as drug targets, and the experience and technologies from those studies are employed by the consortium to identify PDE inhibitors that specifically target parasite PDEs.
The program was operational early 2014 and covers the full range of activities from hit identification to lead optimization for clinical use.
Managing a worldwide consortium
TI Pharma – now part of Lygature – helped to drive project success from the beginning, managing the worldwide consortium of 10 partners. From January 2016, a broad range of resources and support are provided under the Lygature brand and include:
- Program management and leadership. Lygature is responsible for management of the program office where organizational aspects of the program as a whole are coordinated. In addition, Lygature coordinates the consortium meetings and all communication and dissemination efforts, both within the project and to the outside world.
- Coordination of sustainability discussions. Lygature coordinates development of an Open Innovation Platform that will assure sustainability and data sharing.
- Communications. Other contributions include brand building of PDE4NPD from the ground up; communicating project results and disseminating (scientific) articles; and providing a custom-built secure communications platform for internal use.
The worldwide PDE4NPD consortium has required extensive expertise in both management and communication. It is an important example of the Lygature mission to bring together partners with complementary areas of expertise to jointly fight neglected diseases.
Lygature together with
Fraunhofer IME-Hamburg-Germany, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Rio de Janeiro-Brazil, IOTA Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge-United Kingdom, The Spanish National Research Council-Madrid-Spain, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute-Imababa-Egypt, University of Antwerp-Antwerp-Belgium, University of Glasgow-Glasgow-United Kingdom, University of Kent-Kent-United Kingdom, VU University-Amsterdam-The Netherlands.
Project updates
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4th PDE4NPD consortium meeting to be held in Hamburg, 4-6 November 2015
On November 4-6, the next PDE4NPD Consortium meeting will be held in Hamburg, at the Fraunhofer IME Institute.
As is the case once a year, the PDE4NPD Scientific Advisory Board will also be present at this meeting.
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New report: Investments in neglected tropical diseases one of the best buys in development
The third progress report since the London Declaration on NTDs shows strong endemic country leadership, calls on partners to scale up efforts in order to reach WHO targets. Read the article here.
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Sand Fly Saliva Proves a Good Monkey Vaccine for Leishmaniasis
A new study, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests a vaccine against leishmaniasis that worked well in monkeys may have potential to work in humans as well.
Read the NY Times article here.