DNDi has different screening projects to identify novel compounds with activity against HAT, feeding into the one and only HAT optimisation consortium worldwide, created by DNDi.

The lead optimisation efforts involve two early stage drug discovery programmes for HAT which are both based with the biotechnology company, Scynexis, in North Carolina and Pace University in Manhattan. The team of 18 scientists has now identified two new chemical series which have potential for treatment of the disease. The first is being developed in collaboration with Anacor, a California-based biotechnology company. The second series, which was discovered independently by the Scynexis team, is now part of a collaborative research programme between the Scynexis/ Pace team and researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Both series are potent against stage 1 disease in animals and the researchers are now attempting to optimise their efficacy against the neurological form of the disease.