Flubendazole as a macrofilaricide: History and background.

Benzimidazole anthelmintics have long been employed for the control of soil-transmitted helminth infections. Flubendazole (FBZ) was approved in 1980 for the treatment of gastrointestinal nematode infections in both veterinary and human medicine. It has also long been known that parenteral administra...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Timothy G Geary, Charles D Mackenzie, Steven A Silber
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006436
https://doaj.org/article/28566c3e692349a3a00977e4cca7341b
Description
Summary:Benzimidazole anthelmintics have long been employed for the control of soil-transmitted helminth infections. Flubendazole (FBZ) was approved in 1980 for the treatment of gastrointestinal nematode infections in both veterinary and human medicine. It has also long been known that parenteral administration of FBZ can lead to high macrofilaricidal efficacy in a variety of preclinical models and in humans. As part of an effort to stimulate the discovery and development of new macrofilaricides, particularly for onchocerciasis, research has recently been devoted to the development of new formulations that would afford high oral bioavailability of FBZ, paving the way for potential clinical development of this repurposed drug for the treatment of human filariases. This review summarizes the background information that led to this program and summarizes some of the lessons learned from it.