In this Viewpoint, we provide a brief description of two efforts to develop drugs to treat diseases caused by tropical parasites (Malaria, human African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease). These efforts are largely based in a University setting but draw heavily on Pharma for a complete progression from drug hit discovery to advancement toward clinical trials. The first case is the development of protein farnesyltransferase inhibitors, and the second case is a series of benzthiazoles, the target of which is being investigated.