A journal Nature-published research has unveiled that a new anti-malarial compound DDD107498 that stops protein synthesis has been discovered.

Researchers have developed the drug at Dundee University in the UK. It is now being said that the drug has the ability to change the way malaria is treated. Researchers said that the compound has all the features of an anti-malarial drug. The results are considered to be of significance as the malaria parasite has developed resistance to many anti-malarial drugs.

The compound focuses on a process considered vital for protein synthesis. In the process, the compound targets translocation elongation factor 2 (eEF2), responsible for the GTP-dependent translocation of ribosome.

The compound has drug-like properties having the ability to fight the parasite. Researchers explained that mice infected with Plasmodium berghei were given a single dose of the compound and it was found to have reduced the parasitaemia by 90%.

Another great quality shown by the compound was chemoprotection. The researchers said that it acted strongly against the P. falciparum parasite and many other drug-resistant strains. It was found to be much better than the currently used artesunate drug.

In liver schizont stage, the compound was found to be effective even when the compound was introduced after the infection with P. berghei liver stage. When the mice were treated with the compound, no signs of parasitaemia were found even after a month.

As per an official data, there were 200 million cases of malaria and nearly 0.6 million deaths across the world.