In the last few years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the biochemistry of the malaria parasite. The points of difference have the potential of yielding new and improved approaches to the therapy of malaria. The Department is working to develop a drug that will block a vital biochemical step in the parasite, thereby terminating infection. If this step does not exist in human biochemistry, its blockade will interfere with the parasite but not with human function. Therefore, our efforts to develop new compounds which exploit these unique characteristics of parasite biochemistry offer novel approaches which promise new therapeutic agents.
Some malaria parasites are resistant to current treatments.