Zurich (awp) – Pharmaceutical giant Novartis claims to have obtained convincing results in terms of effectiveness and safety with a formulation of Coartem (artemether-lumefantrine), developed against malaria for babies weighing less than five kilos. The data was obtained as part of a phase II/III study called Calina, supported and funded by the Medicines for Malaria Ventures initiative, among others.
The multinational emphasizes in its press release on Wednesday that while gigantic progress has been made in recent decades in the treatment of this disease, very little data has been collected on toddler patients.
The new formulation of Coartem takes into account the metabolic specificities of infants weighing less than five kilos, who currently do not have therapeutic options based on scientific evidence.
The Medicines for Malaria Ventures initiative was launched in 1999 in Geneva, with initial financial support from the Confederation, the UK Department for International Development, the Government of the Netherlands, the World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation.
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