Reducing the Mortality of Invasive Fungal Infections

SLU ID 23-003 | Phenothiazines and Phenoxazines as Broad Spectrum Antifungal Agents

Background

Globally, fungal diseases affect an estimated 300 million people a year and lead to approximately 1.6 million deaths. Despite the high prevalence of serious fungal diseases, no area of infectious disease drug development has made less progress in the last fifty years than mycology. Three of the most common invasive fungal intections (IFIs) are invasive candidiasis, invasive aspergillosis, and cryptococcal meningitis for which the mortality rates remain unacceptably high at 30-40%, 50%, and >50%, respectively. Furthermore, the poor outcomes associated with IFIs are likely to worsen as the incidence of antifungal drug resistance continues to rise.

Overview

Researchers at Saint Louis University have shown that the phenothiazine class of molecules related to antipsychotic and antiemetic medications have antifungal properties. They have been able to increase the antifungal activity of phenothiazine and phenoxaxine analogs and decrease the affinity for neurotransmitter receptors, which are the prime driver of dose-limiting side effects.

Benefits

The potential benefits of this technology include:

• Increasing the ability of repurposed drugs to treat IFIs

• Increasing the antifungal activity of repurposed drugs

• Minimizing the dose-limiting side effects of drugs repurposed for treating IFIs

Applications

The potential applications of this technology include developing drugs to treat invasive fungal infections.

Opportunity

Saint Louis University is seeking a partner to further develop and commercialize this technology.