The spiroindolone drug candidate NITD609 potently inhibits gametocytogenesis and blocks Plasmodium falciparum transmission to anopheles mosquito vector

The global malaria agenda has undergone a reorientation from control of clinical cases to entirely eradicating malaria. For that purpose, a key objective is blocking transmission of malaria parasites from humans to mosquito vectors. The new antimalarial drug candidate NITD609 was evaluated for its transmission-reducing potential and compared to a few established antimalarials (lumefantrine, artemether, primaquine), using a suite of in vitro assays. By the use of a microscopic readout, NITD609 was found to inhibit the early and late development of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes in vitro in a dose-dependent fashion over a range of 5 to 500 nM. In addition, using the standard membrane feeding assay, NITD609 was also found to be a very effective drug in reducing transmission to the Anopheles stephensi mosquito vector. Collectively, our data suggest a strong transmission-reducing effect of NITD609 acting against different P. falciparum transmission stages.