Ranbaxy's malarial drug in clinical phase

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) today announced that a potential breakthrough anti-malarial drug has entered into human clinical trials.

Findings in the discovery of this new drug will be published on August 19 in Nature, a premier international scientific journal.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, MMV's pharmaceutical partner for the development of this drug, has obtained authorisation from Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA) to conduct clinical trials in the UK. This is the first regulatory step in new drug development after safety and drug activity is established in the pre-clinical phase.

The drug, OZ277/RBx11160, is being evaluated in a Phase I study for its safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics (PK) in humans in the UK.

"The need to develop a low-cost, potent synthetic antimalarial drug is more urgent than ever. This could be the biggest breakthrough in malaria treatment of our generation," said MMV's CEO Christopher Hentschel.

"Ranbaxy is privileged to carry on the baton from this team of talented researchers. Our scientists are excited to be able to work on a drug that could save millions of lives," said Brian Tempest, CEO & managing director. "We are pleased with the progress of the project. Developing drugs is indeed not easy."