Novel diaryl ureas with efficacy in a mouse model of malaria

Abstract

Exploration of triclosan analogs has led to novel diaryl ureas with significant potency against in vitro cultures of drug-resistant and drug-sensitive strains of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Compound 18 demonstrated EC50 values of 37 and 55nM versus in vitro cultured parasite strains and promising in vivo efficacy in a Plasmodium berghei antimalarial mouse model, with >50% survival at day 31 post-treatment when administered subcutaneously at 256mg/kg. This series of compounds provides a chemical scaffold of novel architecture, as validated by cheminformatics analysis, to pursue antimalarial drug discovery efforts.