ReviewPost screenDrug repositioning approaches to parasitic diseases: a medicinal chemistry perspective

- Neglected tropical diseases affect approximately one billion people worldwide.
- Most of the available drugs have limited efficacy and cause serious adverse effects.
- Drug repositioning has been applied to overcome the lack of novel compounds.
- Several drugs have been successfully repurposed to neglected tropical diseases.
- Recent screening campaigns have identified promising drug repositioning candidates.

Identifying new indications for clinically useful drugs is a worthwhile approach for neglected tropical diseases. The number of successful repurposing cases in the field is growing as not-for-profit organizations, in association with academia and pharmaceutical companies, enable screening campaigns for the identification of new repositioning candidates. Current programs have delivered encouraging results as the use of state-of-the-art technologies, such as genomic and structural biology tools, and high-throughput screening platforms have become increasingly common in infectious disease research. Drug repositioning has played a key part in improving the lives of those suffering from these conditions, as evidenced by successful precedents and recent studies on preeminent parasitic disorders.