Transmission-blocking drugs for malaria elimination

Preventing human-to-mosquito transmission of malaria parasites provides pos-sible solutions to interrupt the malaria parasite life cycle for malaria elimination. The development of validated routine assays enabled the discovery of such transmission-blocking compounds. Currently, one development priority remains on combinations of dual-active compounds with equipotent activity against both the disease-causing asexual and transmissible, sexual erythrocytic stages. Additionally, transmission-blocking compounds that target gametocyte-specific biology could be used in combination with compounds against asexual parasites. In either case, preventing transmission will reduce the risk of reinfection and, if different processes are targeted, also curb the spread of drug resistance. Here, we provide an updated roadmap to the discovery and development of new anti-malarials with transmission-blocking activity to guide drug discovery for malaria elimination.

Automated summary

Preventing human-to-mosquito transmission of malaria parasites is a possible solution to interrupt the malaria parasite life cycle for malaria elimination. The development of validated routine assays enabled the discovery of transmission-blocking compounds. Currently, the development priority lies in finding combinations of dual-active compounds that have equipotent activity against both disease-causing asexual and transmissible erythrocytic stages, as well as compounds that target gametocyte-specific biology. Preventing transmission reduces the risk of reinfection and can help curb the spread of drug resistance.