Prof. Achim Hoerauf is a neglected tropical disease expert researching filarial diseases: parasite-induced immune responses, immunogenetics, and diagnostic and drug development.
He discovered the Wolbachia-filaria endosymbiotic relationship and conducted a series of clinical trials and demonstrated that antibiotics, such as doxycycline which target the essential Wolbachia could be used to treat the adult worms in filariasis, thus delivering a curative therapy.
These results led to subsequent clinical trials using other registered antibiotics and development of novel anti-wolbachial antibiotics. With the German Center for Infection Research (www.dzif.de) funding, he and his team, with pharma partners Eisai Inc/Japan as well as DNDI, are developing Corallopyronin-A against onchocerciasis and LF. Additionally, he worked closely with companies (Bayer, Abbvie, Celgene) to develop further anthelminthics, resulting in 5 patents/patents-pending. He is chair of the German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases (www.dntds.de), advising the ministries implementing the German government’s commitments to UN SDGs, and the Global Health Strategy.
For over 20 years, he has collaborated with key African filariasis scientists and been PI of numerous clinical trials funded by the BMBF, EU, Volkswagen Foundation, and Gates Foundation.
