Novartis backs new anti-malaria campaign
pharmafile | September 23, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Novartis, donation, malaria
Novartis and non-profit Malaria No More have launched a new campaign to reduce child deaths from malaria in Africa.
Dubbed ‘Power of One’, the project has set an initial target of raising enough money to provide 3 million treatments for distribution in Zambia.
Novartis will make its paediatric anti-malarial Coartem Dispersible (artemether/lumefantrine) available, contributing one full course for every dollar donated by the public.
The Swiss pharma giant has already provided 200 million treatments free of charge to malaria-endemic countries in the last four years, according to a company statement.
Donations to the campaign can be made online, where contributors will be able to track the progress of their designated drug shipment.
Malaria No More chief executive Martin Edlund urged people to donate – and encourage their friends to do the same. He added: “It’s unacceptable that a child dies every minute for lack of a dollar’s worth of treatment.”
Novartis’ chief executive Joseph Jimenez said: “We need more help to close the treatment gap and Power of One offers everyone a chance to engage and make a difference.”
The World Health Organization estimates that there were 660,000 malaria-related deaths in 2010 – the vast majority among African children.
The disease is caused by plasmodium parasites and is spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include headache and vomiting, and the condition can disrupt blood-flow to vital organs.
Coartem Dispersible was launched in 2009 by Novartis and Bill and Miranda Gates Foundation-funded Medicines For Malaria Venture (MMV).
The drug is a derivative of Coartem, an artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), developed specifically for children.
Other ACT options on the market include Sanofi’s ASAQ (artesunate/amodiaquine) which is similarly aimed at children in developing countries.
Sanofi is in the final year of its own collaboration with MMV, ‘Orthology Malaria’ – a project geared towards developing a number of its treatment candidates.
Firmly invested in this area of research, Novartis is currently investigating two new classes of compound to combat malaria.
Spiroindolones were first developed in 2010 to tackle drug-resistant strains with one candidate, NITD609, now at the Phase II trial stage.
In 2011, the company announced the discovery of imidazolopiperazines, compounds that target infection at both stages of parasite reproduction: in the liver and the blood.
The ‘holy grail’ of malaria research – an effective vaccine – remains elusive. However, promising rumblings emerged earlier this year from Sanaria and Onovio, who posted positive early-stage results for PfSPZ and SynCon, respectively.
Hugh McCafferty
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