Compounds for the treatment of Leishmaniasis and other diseases caused by trypanosomes

Leishmaniasis is an infectious and parasitic disease, classified as a “neglected tropical disease” by the WHO, which affects millions of people every year and exists mainly in developing countries. Despite its relevance and incidence, there is still no effective vaccine or effective treatment to combat it. The drugs currently used have some disadvantages such as high toxicity, difficulty in administration, generation of resistance, and high cost. The global set of these problems, also common to other diseases caused by parasites of the Trypanosomatidae family, such as Chagas disease, imply the need for the development of new, more effective treatments that represent an alternative to the usual ones. A research group from two Spanish Universities has developed a series of useful compounds for the treatment of Leishmaniasis and other diseases caused by parasites of the Trypanosomatidae family. They have observed antiparasitic activity in a series of aromatic heterocyclic compounds, thus enabling their use as a treatment against diseases caused by protozoa of the Trypanosomatidae family, mainly Leishmaniasis, and within these, visceral Leishmaniasis, cutaneous Leishmaniasis or mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis. Compounds proposed in this invention have shown antiparasitic activity against three strains of the genus Leishmania that are the main causes of Leishmaniasis. Moreover, according to the results of the assays carried out, these compounds have lower toxicity than the toxicity associated with the use of the reference commercial treatments. The research group is looking for partners interested in licensing these patented compounds.