Professor Thomas Dorlo explores new ways to treat neglected diseases

The Faculty of Pharmacy congratulates Thomas Dorlo on being appointed new Professor of Pharmacometrics at Uppsala University, a decision that further strengthens the research environment's pole position in the academic world. Thomas Dorlo was recruited in 2022 from The Netherlands Cancer Institute to Uppsala's Department of Pharmacy, where he currently leads his team in the fields of Tropical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

“I received my pharmaceutical and research training in the Netherlands, but like everyone else who chooses to explore the world of pharmacometrics, the compass pointed towards Sweden and Uppsala University. Today I have established my own research track with focus on precision medicine tools against tropical parasitic diseases, and that Uppsala University clearly shows that they want to continue to invest in a discipline where academic research is absolutely necessary is very positive,” says Thomas Dorlo.

At the center of Thomas Dorlo's research is what the World Health Organization defines as Neglected Diseases, a description including lack of effective drugs, insufficient knowledge about dosages and infrastructures often incapable of meeting needs of care. This means that Thomas Dorlo carries out large portions of his work with a focus on low-income countries, and in late summer he co-authored the results of a clinical study carried out in Sudan in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

“We have tried a new treatment against the infectious disease Mycetoma, and our study of 104 patients shows that Fosravuconazole offers a fully adequate and more cost-effective alternative without causing the side effects of currently available treatments, while patients switch from daily to weekly doses. If our results are enough to convince Sudan's National Medicines and Poisons Board to approve the treatment, we hope it will spread to other countries throughout the region.”

In parallel, Thomas Dorlo's research group is involved in a clinical study that is underway in five African countries. In this project, PYRAPREG, close to two thousand pregnant women have received a new combination therapy against malaria, currently the third most common cause of death of women of reproductive age in Africa. Next, follow-up studies focusing on the children that the women have now given birth awaits, and even though it is too early to draw any firm conclusions, preliminary data indicate that the treatment has effect on malaria parasites. Yet, we still need further knowledge about safety and dosage.

“These diseases primarily affect poor patient groups in countries where healthcare systems generally face challenges providing the few drugs that are available. Thus, the industry's incentives to engage are quite weak, but with PYRAPREG – that we conduct in collaboration with ten academic partners - we have displayed what public organisastions can accomplish with strategic funding. And if I can make a wish, it would be for our elected officials to prioritize long-termism even stronger, as it is a prerequisite for completing complex research initiatives and to – in vulnerable countries – build and maintain research facilities for on-site clinical trials.”

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Department of Pharmacy