When Haldar and her colleagues tested propranolol in combination with existing anti-malarial drugs in human cell cultures and mice, it reduced the dose of the anti-malarial drugs needed to kill the parasites by tenfold. That's significant because high doses of anti-malarial drugs ?increasingly necessary as resistance to them builds -- can be toxic. In addition, blood pressure medication like propranolol is cheap and safe for use even in pregnant women, a group particularly vulnerable to malaria.
"We're working on developing a unique drug that would combine anti-malarial drugs with blood pressure medication. We think it has a high likelihood of success," Haldar said. The next step is human clinical trials.