A cancer drug repurposed to treat malaria has been shown to be nearly 100% effective in helping defeat the disease in just three days, according to the results of a Phase 2 clinical trial.

The results of the trial were published Thursday (Aug. 26) in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The trial shows that the addition of the drug Imatinib to the customary malaria therapy enables clearance of all malaria parasites from 90% of patients within 48 hours and from 100% of patients within three days, says Philip Low, Purdue University’s Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, who co-directed the international research team. The patients receiving Imatinib also were relieved of their fevers in less than half of the time experienced by similar patients treated with the standard therapy.

“In our trial, 33% of the patients treated with the standard therapy (but without the Imatinib supplement) still suffered from significant parasitemia after three days,” said Low. “Delayed clearance rates are a precursor to and an indicator of potential drug resistance, which has been a problem with malaria for decades. So, this could be significant.”

Imatinib was originally produced by Novartis for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and other cancers.