Key Contributions by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute Towards New and Better Drugs for Tropical Diseases
Pascal Mäser,
Sonja Bernhard,
Reto Brun,
Christian Burri,
Sébastien Gagneux,
Manuel W. Hetzel,
Marcel Kaiser,
Christian Lengeler,
Gerd Pluschke,
Elisabeth Reus,
Matthias Rottmann,
Jürg Utzinger,
Louisa Warryn,
Sergio Wittlin,
Jennifer Keiser
Affiliations
Pascal Mäser
Dept. Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Sonja Bernhard
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Reto Brun
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Christian Burri
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Sébastien Gagneux
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Manuel W. Hetzel
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Marcel Kaiser
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Christian Lengeler
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Gerd Pluschke
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Elisabeth Reus
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Matthias Rottmann
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Jürg Utzinger
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Louisa Warryn
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Sergio Wittlin
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Jennifer Keiser
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland
Thanks to its expertise in clinical research, epidemiology, infectious diseases, microbiology, parasitology, public health, translational research and tropical medicine, coupled with deeply rooted partnerships with institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) has been a key contributor in many drug research and development consortia involving academia, pharma and product development partnerships. Our know-how of the maintenance of parasites and their life-cycles in the laboratory, plus our strong ties to research centres and disease control programme managers in LMICs with access to field sites and laboratories, have enabled systems for drug efficacy testing in vitro and in vivo, clinical research, and modelling to support the experimental approaches. Thus, Swiss TPH has made fundamental contributions towards the development of new drugs – and the better use of old drugs – for neglected tropical diseases and infectious diseases of poverty, such as Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, food-borne trematodiasis (e.g. clonorchiasis, fascioliasis and opisthorchiasis), human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis and tuberculosis. In this article, we show case the success stories of molecules to which Swiss TPH has made a substantial contribution regarding their use as anti-infective compounds with the ultimate aim to improve people’s health and well-being.
