Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children annually, yet there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it in more than 25 years.
Now, Novartis says it has one.
The Swiss company said Wednesday that a potential new treatment cured more than 99% of malaria cases in a late-stage study. The drug candidate may also be able to prevent the spread of drug resistance, a growing threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Novartis said.
The new drug, known as GanLum for its components ganaplacide and lumefantrine, promises the biggest innovation in malaria treatments since the introduction in 1999 of combination therapies using a compound called artemisinin.
A new drug would provide a much-needed new weapon against malaria. Artemisinin-based medicines are still very effective, but resistance to them is spreading, particularly in East and Southern Africa, said David Fidock, professor of microbiology and immunology and medical sciences at Columbia University.
Millions of people in Africa recently received a life-saving malaria vaccine.
Last year, a treatment was discovered for sleeping sickness, a disease that kills 50,000 to 500,000 people per year.
