Bengaluru: Three scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research could bask in glory for discovering potential drugs against the Ebola virus.
Two compounds developed in the city are among 20 selected for evaluation in the UK for efficacy against the Ebola virus. Public Health England (PHE) scientists are evaluating potential treatment options in their laboratories in Porton Down to determine the most viable candidates for further development.
The compounds developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and codenamed NCK-8 and D-LANA-14 show high activity against a range of multi-drug resistant bacteria and malarial parasites.
They are made in three steps with easily available and inexpensive starting material, which do not require any difficult conditions for synthesis, according to the centre’s scientists.
JNCASR faculty fellow Dr Jayanta Haldar, whose research group synthesised the compounds, said, “There is currently a lot of interest in this class of compounds called peptide mimics, and we hope to work with PHE over time to evaluate and develop all our anti-microbial mimics, including these two lead candidates that have entered the first round of screening against Ebola.”
Dr Seshadri Vasan, PHE Senior Business Development Manager and one of the co-investigators of the project, said: “PHE has a track record of scientific innovation and development, and funding from Wellcome Trust will allow us to utilise our experience and expertise to assist in the fight against Ebola.”
The World Health Organisation considers the development in Ebola treatment a key global priority, he observed.
“Our collaboration with JNCASR has resulted from the UK healthcare mission to India in February,” Dr Vasan said.
The others in the team are Chandradhish Ghosh and Mohini Mohan Konai.
