Study overview
CREATES and its collaborators investigated how nanomedicine approaches could address limitations such as poor water solubility, short half-life, bioavailability and treatment-related toxicity in selected antimalarial medicines. The work included the preparation and characterization of primaquine-loaded nanoparticles, dihydroartemisinin formulations and a later dihydroartemisinin-lumefantrine duo-drug formulation. Laboratory exchange, postgraduate training, pharmaceutical characterization and preclinical evaluation connected capacity development with product-oriented therapeutic research.
Results and current findings
The programme produced characterized nanoparticle formulations of primaquine and dihydroartemisinin and subsequently evaluated a nanoparticle-based dihydroartemisinin-lumefantrine formulation in a mouse malaria model. The publications provide a foundation for deciding whether further optimization and translational development are warranted.