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Breakthroughs Blog

Breakthroughs Blog

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Breakthroughs brings you stories of bright ideas and bold innovations in global health.

PATH/Enoch Kavindele Jr.
July 21, 2025

Research Roundup: AI-powered malaria drug discovery, Shortened TB treatment trial, Open-source molecular assay

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. LPIXEL, the University of Dundee, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) are partnering, with financial support from the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, to develop a platform that uses advanced image analysis and machine learning to accelerate the discovery of novel antimalarials. Specifically, the platform will use images of stained parasite cells to better understand a compound's biological impact on the malaria parasite, providing key insights into its mode of action, a process that is usually months-long. As the emergence of parasite resistance to antimalarials poses a new threat to malaria control and elimination efforts, this new platform could help pave the way for new and effective therapies. MMV will also make the platform open access, enabling researchers around the world to use the technology to improve drug discovery efforts across a range of diseases. Results from a multi-country Phase 3 clinical trial published last week found that a shorter all-oral drug regimen was effective in some patients with pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) but with mixed results. The trial tested the efficacy of 6- and 9-month regimens compared to the World Health Organization-recommended 18-month regimen, finding that while the shorter regimens had a high success rate, they did not meet the criteria to be considered at least as effective as the standard, in part because patients with extensive disease did not respond as well as those with limited disease. The trial provides important insights to guide future research into shorter drug regimens for those with drug-resistant TB. A team of researchers from Austria and Ghana recently published the results of a study testing a new pathogen detection test, finding that it was highly effective and suitable for low-resource settings. The test demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity, maintained its efficacy while being transported long distances at room temperature, and is extremely affordable. The researchers have made the test protocol open source, allowing it to be used to address critical unmet needs in low- and middle-income countries and other low-resource settings—it is already been used to develop an HIV test and a test for influenza and the virus that causes COVID-19. This research effort stemmed from challenges with implementing large-scale testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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PATH/Enoch Kavindele Jr.
July 21, 2025

Research Roundup: AI-powered malaria drug discovery, Shortened TB treatment trial, Open-source molecular assay

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. LPIXEL, the University of Dundee, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) are partnering, with financial support from the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, to develop a platform that uses advanced image analysis and machine learning to accelerate the discovery of novel antimalarials. Specifically, the platform will use images of stained parasite cells to better understand a compound's biological impact on the malaria parasite, providing key insights into its mode of action, a process that is usually months-long. As the emergence of parasite resistance to antimalarials poses a new threat to malaria control and elimination efforts, this new platform could help pave the way for new and effective therapies. MMV will also make the platform open access, enabling researchers around the world to use the technology to improve drug discovery efforts across a range of diseases. Results from a multi-country Phase 3 clinical trial published last week found that a shorter all-oral drug regimen was effective in some patients with pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) but with mixed results. The trial tested the efficacy of 6- and 9-month regimens compared to the World Health Organization-recommended 18-month regimen, finding that while the shorter regimens had a high success rate, they did not meet the criteria to be considered at least as effective as the standard, in part because patients with extensive disease did not respond as well as those with limited disease. The trial provides important insights to guide future research into shorter drug regimens for those with drug-resistant TB. A team of researchers from Austria and Ghana recently published the results of a study testing a new pathogen detection test, finding that it was highly effective and suitable for low-resource settings. The test demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity, maintained its efficacy while being transported long distances at room temperature, and is extremely affordable. The researchers have made the test protocol open source, allowing it to be used to address critical unmet needs in low- and middle-income countries and other low-resource settings—it is already been used to develop an HIV test and a test for influenza and the virus that causes COVID-19. This research effort stemmed from challenges with implementing large-scale testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
USAID
July 14, 2025

Research Roundup: Sudan virus vaccine funding, Marburg mRNA vaccine trial, Child-friendly malaria drug approval

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. On Friday, IAVI announced a €1 million investment from the Dutch government to further clinical evaluation of the organization’s investigational vaccine candidate for Sudan virus disease, a severe disease with potentially long-term health consequences, for which there are no vaccines or specific treatments. It is important to continue advancing the vaccine’s development in between outbreaks, coordinating with partners to generate key data, accelerate and improve manufacturing for the later stages of development and production, and ensure that a trial can begin promptly following the identification of a new outbreak. IAVI’s vaccine was tested in a trial during Uganda’s Sudan virus outbreak earlier this year and previously demonstrated promising results in animal models and a Phase 1 clinical trial in the United States.Researchers at the University of Texas and Moderna recently announced that in a preclinical trial in rodents, their mRNA vaccine candidate provided full protection against Marburg disease, a deadly disease closely related to Ebola, for which there are currently no licensed vaccines or treatments. Marburg has caused several outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa, including one in Tanzania earlier this year, and the frequency of outbreaks has increased in recent years, as behavioral shifts offer more opportunities for the virus to spill over from fruit bats to humans. If the vaccine proves successful in future human trials, it could help play a key role in curbing the spread of future outbreaks.Last week, Novartis announced that the first malaria treatment for babies and small children who weigh less than 10 pounds has been approved by Swiss authorities, offering a new tool in the fight against malaria, particularly to help reduce the high rate of malaria deaths in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Coartem Baby, developed by Novartis and the Medicines for Malaria Venture, offers significant improvement over the previous option of treating these babies and young children with versions of malaria drugs formulated for older children, which raises the risk of toxicity and overdose. Novartis plans to introduce the drug on a largely not-for-profit basis, and it could be rolled out in African countries within weeks, with the eight countries that participated in clinical trials of the drug expected to be among the first to receive it.
PATH/Enoch Kavindele Jr.
July 7, 2025

Research Roundup: Non-TB mycobacteria drug, New antifungal discovery, Malaria parasite research

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, BioVersys AG https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial-stewardship/partnership-aims-foster-development-drug-non-tb-mycobacteria announced a new agreement with Shionogi to jointly develop its novel drug for treating non-tuberculosis (TB) mycobacteria, which affects approximately 250,000 people per year, primarily in North America and Asia. Shionogi will provide $6.3 million as an upfront investment for the development of the drug candidate, BV500, through clinical studies and licensing. BioVersys has stated that the candidate has the potential to become a best-in-class therapeutic for non-TB mycobacteria infections, which are currently treated with a lengthy and complex regimen.Scientists at King’s College London have developed a new class of antifungal compounds that could lead to a promising new tool against Candida auris, a dangerous fungal pathogen and a growing global threat. The researchers modified an existing class of antifungal drugs called azoles (which can lose their effectiveness as C. auris becomes resistant to them) to be more impervious to resistance, an approach that has demonstrated promise in lab and preclinical studies. If the new antifungals continue to succeed in further preclinical studies, this research could pave the way for a new, first-in-class antifungal that continues to work in the face of resistance, helping reduce mortality and limit the spread of resistant strains of bacteria.A research team from the University of California, Riverside has made a significant advance in our basic understanding of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite, a step toward the development of new and improved drugs for malaria. The researchers identified two key proteins within the parasite’s cells that control gene expression and used advanced genetic tools to reduce the expression of these proteins, which led to the death of the parasite, verifying their essential role and potential as a drug target. Crucially, these proteins also have no human counterparts. These findings help pinpoint essential targets for developing future drugs that are effective and have minimal side effects.
PATH/Georgina Goodwin
June 30, 2025

Research Roundup: Patient-centric TB treatment, Mpox vaccine trial, Long-lasting flu drug

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
Read time:
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Newly published research suggests that a patient-centered approach, combining novel diagnostic tools with targeted therapies, could be a game changer in tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Current TB treatment requires a complicated, months-long regimen that can be hard for patients to adhere to, leading to treatment failure and the emergence of drug-resistant TB strains. The researchers behind the new study suggest that new diagnostic tools that can better distinguish between patients with less and more severe forms of TB combined with, respectively, shorter or longer, more resource-intensive treatment courses could improve patient outcomes, reduce the burden on health systems, and limit the emergence of drug resistance.Last week, Bavarian Nordic announced the start of the first of two clinical trials testing the use of its Jynneos mpox/smallpox vaccine in vulnerable populations, including infants and children two years old and younger and pregnant or breastfeeding women. If the vaccine demonstrates safety and efficacy, the trial data could help support expanded access to the vaccine for the most vulnerable populations. The trial is being led by the University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa and supported financially by EDCTP3 and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.A recently published study found that a single-dose, long-lasting flu drug could provide protection for an entire flu season, offering longer and more effective protection than our current seasonal flu vaccines. The clinical trial followed 5,000 healthy adults for the entire duration of the most recent flu season, finding that the highest dose of the drug provided more than 76 percent protection compared with a placebo shot. The drug has also demonstrated efficacy against a wide variety of flu strains in a previous study in mice, compared to the season influenza vaccines, which are designed (prior to flu season based on expert assumptions) to protect against at least three of the seasonal strains that circulate each season and whose efficacy depends on how well they match the flu strains that end up circulating.