Chagas drug licensed to nonprofit

The nation’s first nonprofit pharmaceutical company has licensed a new class of compounds from Yale and the University of Washington that could lead to treatments for the parasitic Chagas disease, which affects between 16 and 18 million people, mostly in Latin America.

The compounds, called azoles, were developed by teams led by Andrew D. Hamilton, Ph.D., deputy provost for science and technology at Yale, in collaboration with faculty at the University of Washington. Azoles inhibit production of a chemical that is necessary for the survival of the parasite Trypanosomacruzi without harming human cells.

The Institute for OneWorld Health in San Francisco will have exclusive license to develop azole compounds.