According to the WHO (link: Second WHO report on Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2013), one billion people are at risk of or are affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD), which often affect communities living in remote rural areas or in urban slums with poor living and hygiene conditions.

The dissemination of infectious diseases due to microorganisms belonging to the Trypanosomatidae family – i.e. trypanosomiasis that causes sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease – is a very important issue in some areas of the World, including Africa, South America and India, where these parasites are endemic.

Research on Trypanosomatidic diseases is limited and fragmented, and national initiatives are generally weak or lacking critical mass. Problems associated with existing drugs include inefficient delivery, insufficient efficacy, excessive toxicity and increasing resistance. New drugs are urgently needed now and in the near future.

The New Medicines for Trypanosomatidic Infections - NMTrypI project aims at obtaining new candidate drugs against Trypanosomatidic infections with appropriate efficiency from the lead phase to the final preclinical phase that are more accessible to patients.

NMTrypI Consortium uses a highly interdisciplinary approach to optimize pteridine, thiadiazole/benzothiazole and miltefosine derivatives, as well as natural products against Trypanosomatids. It is composed by 14 partners: SMEs (5) and academics (9) in Europe and in disease-endemic countries (Italy, Greece, Portugal, Sudan, and Brazil). The research team is coordinated by Maria Paola Costi, professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE).

NMTrypI is a EU-funded three year research project with a total budget of € 7,6 million.

The project was launched on February 1st, 2014 and it will last till January 31st, 2017.