A New Drug for Infectious Deseases is Coming to the Market
Feb 1, 2011
Universities in Florida, researchers and government gathered together for main purpose – combat infectious deseases by making the new drug for public. Read full story…
ORLANDO, Fla.— Researchers from two state universities want to create new drugs that combat infectious diseases spread by mosquitos, and they are pushing to get those drugs faster to consumers.
The University of South Florida and the University of Florida received more than half a million dollars last year from the state Board of Governors to spur research in drug discovery for emerging diseases. Researchers from the schools will meet late this month with representatives of scientific and pharmaceutical firms to discuss how to better deliver new-line drugs and therapeutic treatments from the research stage to the market. The project is modeled after the Food and Drug Administration’s Critical Path Initiative, which provides guidelines for this fast-track approach to help bring new treatments to consumers.
“There’s tremendous potential in the state and we have the resources, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of integration between universities and industry,” said Hartmut Derendorf, chairman? of the department of pharmaceutics? at the University of Florida. “It’s important for us to find out what everyone else is doing.”
The project is part of the New Florida Initiative, a program geared toward diversifying the state economy by funding innovation on university campuses. The conference, “Optimizing Detection, Prevention, and Treatment of Vector-Borne Diseases,” will be held on Jan. 31 at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake Nona. The conference includes presentations about malaria, dengue, equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, and other pathogen-related diseases that Florida residents are somewhat at risk of contracting. Cases of dengue have appeared in recent years among tourists and residents of the Florida Keys, and in October a Jacksonville woman contracted malaria, despite not having travelled out of the country in a decade.
This conference is the first of several to be held, and attendees will also examine Florida’s economic opportunities through drug research.
Bill J. Baker, a professor in the chemistry department at the University of South Florida, works on research projects at the USF Center for Drug Discovery and Innovation. Baker says umbrella organizations are needed in the state to more efficiently fight illness and that the conference is the first step to providing a loose-knit organization of people, databases, and shared resources.
“We can make sure people are talking across the state, focused on the same diseases,” he said.
Conference Schedule
10:00-10:30: Welcome and introduction of participants
10:30-11:00: Description of Critical Path Initiative
11:00-11:30: Summary of Vector-borne disease issues in Florida
11:30-1:00: Review of university and other drug development resources in Florida
1:00-1:45: Catered lunch
1:45-3:00: Discussion of ways that Florida institutions can work together to apply the critical path initiative to Florida, concerning issues such as vector-borne illness.
In addition for this, individual and residents starts cleaning their households in order to get rid of mold and mosquitos existence as well. Most were advised to use green cleaning products in support for going green environment .
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