In a Ghanaian university and a Bonn laboratory, a quiet act of scientific reckoning is beginning: two researchers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology are preparing to learn screening methods in Germany, as part of a partnership with a neglected-disease research organisation to test about a hundred molecules against a parasitic worm that has long shadowed African lives. The disease at its center, schistosomiasis, has been carried for generations through contact with freshwater, and the medicine that answers it today works on the worms already grown within the body while
KNUST and DNDi Partner to Screen 100 Molecules Against Schistosomiasis in Ghana's First Drug Discovery Push
Schistosomiasis affects more than 250 million people globally, and an estimated 56 million women and girls face female genital schistosomiasis.
The number of people with schistosomiasis is not declining
Mark
Why does a screen of only 100 molecules deserve attention?
Mimi
Because the number isn't the point. It's the first drug discovery partnership DNDi has run in Africa, and KNUST is stepping into early-stage discovery for the first time.
Mark
So it's about capacity as much as a cure?
Mimi
Yes. The release says the aim is for African researchers to lead the full process, and the results are meant to refine a standard screening process.
Luke
Worth being clear, though: nothing here says a drug is near. This is screening. The source offers no timeline and no results.
Mark
What's the weakness in praziquantel they're targeting?
Mimi
It mainly kills adult worms, is less effective on juveniles, needs repeated dosing over years, and doesn't ease the pain from trapped eggs.
Luke
And the 56 million women and girls with FGS is an estimate, as the release itself says. Those figures come from the organisation's statement.
Mark
Why does Debrah stress that cases aren't declining?
Mimi
Ghana has progressed against other neglected diseases, but he says schistosomiasis numbers aren't falling, so existing tools aren't enough.
Luke
That's his assessment. The article gives no Ghana case data, so we can't check it here.
Der Puls
- More than 250 million people carry a disease that spreads through ordinary freshwater, and the existing treatment must be repeated over many years.
- Praziquantel kills adult worms but misses juvenile ones and cannot ease the pain of eggs lodged in women's bodies, leaving a gap that clinicians have lived with too long.
- KNUST and DNDi are moving to screen around one hundred molecules, with two Ghanaian researchers heading to Bonn to master the screening cascade.
- The project, backed by Germany's research ministry, is DNDi's first drug discovery effort on the African continent, and it is still at its earliest stage, with the screening results and the trained researchers' return still ahead.
In a Ghanaian university and a Bonn laboratory, a quiet act of scientific reckoning is beginning: two researchers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology are preparing to learn screening methods in Germany, as part of a partnership with a neglected-disease research organisation to test about a hundred molecules against a parasitic worm that has long shadowed African lives. The disease at its center, schistosomiasis, has been carried for generations through contact with freshwater, and the medicine that answers it today works on the worms already grown within the body while leaving their eggs and the pain they cause largely untouched. This effort does not yet offer a cure, but it marks a turn in who is asked to look for one, placing African scientists at the beginning of the search rather than at its end.
Two researchers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology are preparing to travel to the University of Bonn in Germany, where they will learn laboratory screening methods. Their trip is the first visible step in a partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, a non-profit research body, to screen about one hundred molecules against a Schistosoma species common across Africa. The work is funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.
Schistosomiasis, known also as bilharzia, is the second most widespread parasitic disease in the world after malaria. More than 250 million people are affected, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa, and an estimated 56 million women and girls live with female genital schistosomiasis. The disease spreads through contact with freshwater, and the parasite can damage the urinary and reproductive systems and cause anaemia.
Praziquantel, the current treatment, mainly kills adult worms and works poorly on juveniles, so patients must be treated again and again over years. It also does not relieve the pain of inflammation caused by eggs trapped in the urogenital tract. Alexander Yaw Debrah of KNUST said Ghana has made real progress against several neglected diseases, yet schistosomiasis cases are not falling, and people need treatments that can cure them. He saw the partnership as placing Ghanaian scientists in the global effort, working in their own laboratories for their own communities.
Dr Eric Chatelain of DNDi called the work the filling of a long-standing gap, and expects it to strengthen drug discovery in Ghana well beyond this project. Dr Joseph Kwadwo Larbi Opare of the Ghana Health Service described schistosomiasis as a national public health priority. The aim is for African institutions to eventually lead the discovery and development of new medicines, and what comes next is the screening itself and what the returning researchers bring home.
Two KNUST researchers are due to travel to the University of Bonn in Germany, where they will get hands-on training in laboratory screening cascade methods. The trip is one piece of a new partnership between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit medical research organisation. Together they will screen around 100 molecules against a species of the parasitic worm Schistosoma that is prevalent in Africa.
The goal is to lay groundwork for the next generation of treatments for schistosomiasis, one of the continent's most widespread parasitic diseases. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). According to a release available to the Ghana News Agency, it pairs KNUST's expertise in parasitic diseases and clinical research with DNDi's experience in discovering and optimizing molecules against neglected diseases and moving them from the laboratory to the clinic.
Two firsts are attached to it. This is DNDi's first drug discovery partnership on the African continent, and it is a significant step for KNUST into early-stage drug discovery science.
The need is spelled out in the numbers. Schistosomiasis, also called bilharzia, is the second most widespread parasitic disease in the world after malaria, affecting more than 250 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. People are infected through contact with freshwater, where the parasite's larvae penetrate the skin and develop into adult worms in the body. The species most common in Africa affects the urinary and reproductive systems. It causes anaemia, and it causes female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) in an estimated 56 million women and girls.
The current treatment, praziquantel, has limits. It mainly kills adult worms and is less effective against juvenile ones, so it must be given repeatedly over many years. It is only partially effective against FGS, and it does not relieve the pain caused by inflammatory reactions to the parasite's eggs, which become trapped in the urogenital tract. The statement therefore calls for treatments that kill juvenile worms and better address the symptoms of women and girls with FGS.
Alexander Yaw Debrah, Professor of Parasitology and Global Health at KNUST and Scientific Director of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research into Tropical Medicine, framed the project against Ghana's wider record. The country has made impressive progress in eliminating several neglected diseases, he said, but the number of people with schistosomiasis is not declining, and they need treatments that can cure them. He said the partnership makes Ghanaian scientists part of a global effort, working in their own laboratories and for their own communities.
Dr Eric Chatelain, Head of Drug Discovery Programme at DNDi, described the work as filling a gap that has existed for too long. He said it also advances drug discovery research in Ghana beyond the initial project period and lays a foundation for future collaborations on other neglected diseases. The combined results are meant to help refine a standard screening process and ultimately support new, safe and effective treatments.
Dr Joseph Kwadwo Larbi Opare, Program Manager for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Ghana Health Service, called schistosomiasis a public health priority in Ghana and welcomed a partnership that builds scientific capacity at home. What to watch next is the screening itself and what the Bonn-trained researchers bring back, since the stated aim is for African institutions to eventually lead the whole process of discovering and developing new medicines.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Ghana has made impressive progress in eliminating several neglected diseases, but the number of people with schistosomiasis is not declining, and we need treatments that can cure them.— Alexander Yaw Debrah, Professor of Parasitology and Global Health, KNUST
The partnership helps fill a gap that has existed for too long and builds the scientific tools needed to find better treatments in the region where they are needed most.— Dr Eric Chatelain, Head of Drug Discovery Programme, DNDi (paraphrased)
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