Drug Discovery and Development Centre

Bheka Thina (“Look At Us”): The Emergence of an Integrated Drug Discovery Ecosystem in South Africa

📢 In #ACSMedChemLett, Woodland, Veale and Chibale trace the evolution of #drugdiscovery in South Africa—from roots in natural products chemistry to an integrated modern discovery ecosystem—and reflect on how @pubs.acs.org has supported the field as @acs.org turns 150 🌍 pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

🔬 Opening Our Lab Doors: UCT Summer School Visits the IDM🧪

It was a pleasure to host participants from the UCT Summer School programme on the 7th of February 2026, led by Dr. John Woodland, for a special morning outing to UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine.

👩‍🔬Celebrating Women in Science 🔬

We are proud that women comprise 50% of the speakers at the upcoming H3D Foundation Symposium (13–16 October).

🔗 Read more about our speakers: lnkd.in/dweCuQ3b
🔗 Learn more about the Symposium: lnkd.in/dXiAag95

#DrugDiscovery#H3DFoundationSymposium#WomenInScience

Blujepa for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections

🚨 Drug of the Month in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences: Ismail and Chibale et al. spotlight Blujepa, a first-in-class triazaacenaphthylene antibacterial for the treatment of uncomplicated UTIs, targeting both DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV 💊🔬 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Efficacy and safety of acoziborole in patients with human African trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense: a multicentre, open-label, single-arm, phase 2/3 trial Given the high efficacy and favourable safety profile, acoziborole holds promise in the efforts to reach the WHO goal of interrupting HAT transmission by 2030.

World #NTD Day (30 Jan) highlights progress against neglected diseases. Human African trypanosomiasis, once lacking effective treatments, now has hope through acoziborole - a first-in-class oral therapy, made possible by global collaboration and smart science.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🌍 H3D Director Kelly Chibale recently attended the ACS Conference of Editors in Lisbon, Portugal.
Under the theme “The Power of Collective Strength,” the conference highlighted how collaboration between editors, reviewers, authors, readers, and publishers strengthens the global scholarly ecosystem.

Optimizing Drug Discovery in Resource-Limited Settings: Multi-Parameter Optimization and Data-Driven Workflows The discovery of novel chemical entities for therapeutic use is a resource-intensive process. Given the constraints of drug discovery resources, it is crucial to allocate assets thoughtfully. This stu...

#Drugdiscovery is costly! 💸 Nchinda and Menzel's new Microperspective in #ACSMedChemLett maps gaps in resource-limited labs and proposes a workflow using free tools to efficiently guide chemical entities through data-driven decision-making processes: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

🌱 Appearing in #ACSInfectDis, Boyle and Basarab comprehensively review #negamycin, a simple antibiotic active against Gram-negative bacteria that uniquely targets the 30S ribosome without cross-resistance, inspiring potent synthetic analogues despite clinical hurdles: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

💊 In #ACSMedChemLett, Mmonwa et al. report a human PDGFRA kinase inhibitor with potent antiplasmodium activity. Medicinal chemistry optimisation improved potency, selectivity and ADME, yielding compounds that inhibit haemozoin formation and kill late-stage parasites: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

A Novel Class of Orally Bioavailable Phenylglycine–Benzoxaborole Conjugates with Antimalarial Activity and Potentially Novel Mechanism of Action A new class of benzoxaboroles with a phenylglycine appendage was found to display in vitro blood stage activity against the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (Pf). Structure–activity relati...

📢 Now out in #ACSMedChemLett! Morake et al. show that phenylglycine-based benzoxaboroles show potent in vitro activity against the human #malaria parasite with good selectivity, solubility, metabolic stability and encouraging in vivo efficacy in mice 🐭 pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

World AIDS Day 2025: Meet the researchers harnessing flow chemistry to increase ARV accessibility in South Africa #WorldAIDSDay2025, we are proud to shine the spotlight on the Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), University of Cape Town FLOWMAP (Flow manufacturing of Active pharmaceutics) project. Launche...

On the 1st of December, we marked #WorldAIDSDay2025 🔬💊

Launched in 2023, FLOWMAP uses cutting-edge flow chemistry to speed up, improve, and reduce the cost of producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), strengthening local drug-manufacturing capacity ⚙️🌍.

AMR Awareness Week 2025: Meet the researchers tackling AMR and driving innovation from Africa to the World TACKLING AMR WITH H3D’s CTAR TEAM In the wake of World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week 2025 last month (18 - 24 November), we’re shining the spotlight on the Centre for Translational AMR...

During World Antimicrobial Resistance #AMRAwarenessWeek 2025 (18–24 November), we highlighted the vital work of the Centre for Translational AMR Research (CTAR) — a collaboration between Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), University of Cape Town and LifeArc in the UK. 💡🔬

🌟 From Inspired Visitor to H3D Scientist

A single visit to our 2023 Open Day sparked a passion that led one young attendee to join H3D — now proudly part of our scientific team as a Senior Research Scientist 👏😊.

Addressing infectious diseases in Africa by accelerating drug discovery through data science - Communications Medicine Turon et al. review the data science and research tool in relation to the heavy burden from infectious diseases, compounded by limited infrastructure in Africa. Data science is emerging as a powerful ...

🌍💻💊 "Addressing infectious diseases in Africa by accelerating drug discovery through data science"—an important review article with @ersilia.io now out in @commsmed.nature.com and part of a broader writing project on the State of Data Science for Health in Africa: www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Africa finally has its own drug-regulation agency — and it could transform the continent’s health If it gets things right, the first major regulator of medicines to launch for 30 years could empower Africa to tackle African challenges around health and disease.

Out now in @nature.com! 🌍💊 By harmonising regulations and embedding African genetic diversity into drug discovery, Mwila Mulubwa and Kelly Chibale explain how the new African Medicines Agency will ensure safer, more effective and equitable medicines for all Africans: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🌍 From 14 Sept–24 Oct 2025, Deborah Annor travelled from Ghana to H3D for a transformative research visit in organic synthesis & medicinal chemistry.🧬

🧪 “I gained hands-on experience, mentorship & skills that will shape my future in research.”

#CapacityBuilding #H3D #GhanaHub #ResearchVisitors

🌟 Exciting opportunity at H3D, University of Cape Town!

We’re looking for a Procurement Officer to join the team from 1 December 2025. If you have experience in financial or purchasing administration and are ready to contribute to impactful science, this role could be for you.

⏰ Final call to register!

Join us for the H3D Open Day 🧪
📅 Sat, 1 Nov | 🕙 10:00–14:00 | 📍UCT

Tour our labs, meet scientists & explore study paths in drug discovery.

🔗 Sign up now: forms.gle/vBbnfnAQFxcp...

#H3D #OpenDay #DrugDiscovery #UCT #FinalCall

🎉 Congratulations to Prof Kelly Chibale, Director of on your official induction as an International Member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM)!

A proud moment for African-led science 🌍 recognising your leadership in advancing drug discovery & global health innovation👏

Artificial intelligence coupled to pharmacometrics modelling to tailor malaria and tuberculosis treatment in Africa - Nature Communications Authors analyzed malaria and tuberculosis drugs to create a pharmacometric model. They used an AI pipeline that prioritized pharmacogenetic drug-gene pairs with an emphasis on high variant frequency g...

Africa's genetic diversity challenges effective drug treatments 💊 In #NatCommun, Turon and Mulubwa et al. present an AI-driven pipeline coupled to pharmacometrics to identify key drug-gene pairs and optimise doses for African populations, focusing on malaria and TB: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🔬 Ever wondered how new medicines are discovered?

Join us for the H3D Open Day 2025 at UCT!

👩‍🔬 Tour our labs
💡 Meet our scientists
🚀 Explore careers in drug discovery

📅 1 Nov 2025 | 🕙 10:00–14:00
📍 IDM, UCT

👉 Register: bit.ly/4nHd77W

#H3D #OpenDay #DrugDiscovery #ScienceCareers #UCT

Edward Odoi from the University of Ghana spent time at H3D, UCT (15 Sept–3 Oct 2025) to enhance his LC-MS skills and explore DMPK workflows. His first international trip was both inspiring and unforgettable! 🌍🔬 #H3D #ResearchExchange #DrugDiscovery #CapacityBuilding

Optimization of 2,8-Diaryl-1,5-naphthyridines as Plasmodium falciparum Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase Inhibitors with Improved ADME Profiles and In Vivo Efficacy Previously reported antimalarial Plasmodium phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ 2,8-diaryl-1,5-naphthyridine inhibitors have shown suboptimal physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. A focused t...

📢 Just out in #JMedChem! Dziwornu et al. describe the optimization of 2,8-diaryl-1,5-naphthyridines as #Plasmodium falciparum phosphatidylinositol 4‑kinase (PI4K) inhibitors with improved ADME profiles and in vivo efficacy 🐭 #malaria pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Join @h3dfoundation.bsky.social for the webinar series

📅 Thursday, 16 October 2025
⌚ 12PM (SAST)
👨🏽‍🔬 Kirandeep Kaur Samby Johnson & Johnson
💡 Screening Smarter: How Library Design Drives Discovery

Register and join here: lnkd.in/d8vWEGfg

Join @h3dfoundation.bsky.social for the webinar series

📅 Monday, 13 October
⌚ 12PM (SAST)
👨🏽‍🔬 Dr James Duffy Medicines for Malaria Venture
💡 The use of free drug concepts to guide compound optimisation in antimalarial drug discovery projects

Register and join here: lnkd.in/des-CzDB

From pharmacist to lab-based drug discovery scientist In celebration of FIP World Pharmacist Day* (25 September) last week, we asked Dr Mathew Njoroge, chief investigator in the H3D Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) team to share some insights ...

Celebrating #WorldPharmacistDay on the 25th of September 💊✨

From clinic to lab, Chief Investigator Mathew Njoroge shares his journey into #drugdiscovery, showing how pharmacists can shape new therapies & strengthen Africa’s research ecosystem🌍🧪

🔗 Read the full article here: lnkd.in/dtRi_xXd

Introducing @h3dcentre.bsky.social! Focused on infectious diseases, they advance platforms and training to improve treatment across Africa. Through RAFIKI, H3D leads efforts to build compound- and data-sharing infrastructure for African drug discovery. #RAFIKI #DrugDiscovery #HorizonEU