Fighting on the front-line – Empowering communities to drive long-acting injectable innovation
The latest WHO World Malaria Report indicates that Africa carries a disproportionately high burden of malaria with 95% of malaria cases and 96% of malaria deaths occurring in this region with children under 5 accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths on the continent. It is now more important than ever that more investment in innovation and implementation of more effective prevention strategies for low- and middle-income countries.
Posted on: 24 April 2023
Dynamic partnerships for maximum impact: How our collaboration with Tandem Nano Ltd is fast-tracking our development programme
Maintaining adherence to medication is often a huge challenge to patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Reasons for poor adherence can be quite complex. They may run out of tablets and are unable to get a new supply, they may forget to take their medicine or they simply don’t like taking tablets daily due to the difficult side effects they can cause. Regardless of the reason for poor adherence, there is overwhelming evidence that supports the need for a different approach to healthcare within affected communities.
Posted on: 5 April 2023
Stopping TB in its tracks with long-acting injectables: A war of attrition
World TB Day 2023, themed 'Yes! We can end TB!', is set to inspire a renewed sense of hope in the fight against the TB epidemic. The campaign seeks to encourage leaders to take bold steps, increase funding, adopt innovative solutions, and act faster to curb the spread of the disease.
Posted on: 23 March 2023
Creating Dissolvable Microneedle Arrays as an Alternative Drug Delivery System to Treat Glaucoma
I’m Elliot Croft, a PhD student based in the Department of Chemistry. I obtained an MChem degree in Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool. During my undergraduate studies, I undertook research projects focusing on polymer synthesis and controlling the size of inorganic nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery. Now, my research focuses on the development of bespoke dissolvable microneedle arrays (DMNs) for the treatment of glaucoma which provide sustained drug delivery which cannot be achieved using the typical treatment method – eye drops.
Posted on: 22 February 2023
Assessing the preclinical development of long-acting biodegradable implants
I’m Dr Meg Neary, a postdoctoral research associate at the Centre of Excellence for Long-acting therapeutics (CELT). My work involves pre-clinical development of long-acting antiretroviral therapy (LA ART). LA ART provides exposure to a drug over a long period of time. This means instead of taking oral tablets, the contents of which are eliminated by the body over a very short period of time, patients can take LA ART and have effective exposure to the same drug concentration for a period of weeks, months or years. \n
Posted on: 31 January 2023
Data analysis, Modelling and accelerating development of Long-acting therapeutics
Data analysis and modelling in pharmacology is an essential technique for understanding and predicting the effects of different drugs on the human body. It allows researchers to interpret large amounts of data from clinical trials, lab experiments, and other sources, in order to understand how drugs interact with different biological systems and how they might be used to treat various diseases or conditions. It is an important part of the drug development process, and helps researchers optimise drug therapies and improve patient outcomes.\n\n
Posted on: 13 January 2023
Taking control of the HIV epidemic – How long-acting injectables can help reach ambitious targets
HIV continues to be a global public health concern with approximately 40 million people living with HIV infection in 2021 globally – the epidemic has sadly claimed millions of lives all over the world.
Posted on: 12 September 2022
Community engagement – shaping the long-acting technologies pipeline
The latest World Health Organisation (WHO) reports estimate 58 million people globally have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring per year. 75% of these cases occur in low- and middle-income countries.\n\nIt is estimated that oral drugs at the point of diagnosis provide a 98% cure rate if an entire oral regimen is completed. However, in LMICs, access to medication can be complex with issues around stigma and pill burden resulting in poor completion rates.
Posted on: 28 July 2022
Developing a single-injection cure for hepatitis C virus for low- and middle-income countries
Dr. David Lee Thomas is a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases and cares for patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Dave leads the Hepatitis C programme for the Unitaid funded LONGEVITY project for CELT.\n\nFrom 2006-2022, Dr. Thomas served as the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Stanhope Bayne-Jones Professor of Medicine. He remains a Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine and of Epidemiology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is a co-director of the Centre for AIDS Research Clinical Core.\n\nFor world Hepatitis Day 2022, Dr Thomas shared his expertise on Hepatitis C virus as a world-leading clinical researcher.
Posted on: 28 July 2022
Blog
Fighting on the front-line – Empowering communities to drive long-acting injectable innovation
The latest WHO World Malaria Report indicates that Africa carries a disproportionately high burden of malaria with 95% of malaria cases and 96% of malaria deaths occurring in this region with children under 5 accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths on the continent. It is now more important than ever that more investment in innovation and implementation of more effective prevention strategies for low- and middle-income countries.
Posted on: 24 April 2023