Novartis’ new malaria treatment shows promise against resistant parasites

A new malaria treatment has shown promise in blocking transmission and tackling the emerging problem of parasite resistance to current antimalarials. Ganaplacide-lumefantrine, or GanLum, is developed by pharmaceutical giant Novartis in partnership with different scientific and funding organizations, including Medicines for Malaria Venture, or MMV. It is a combination of two compounds: a new antimalarial drug called ganaplacide, and a new formulation of an existing antimalarial called lumefantrine. Results from a phase 3 clinical trial carried out across 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and published this week showed it’s highly effective in treating uncomplicated malaria, as well as in killing parasites that have developed partial resistance to current antimalarials. It was also found to rapidly kill the sexual transmission stages of the malaria parasite, blocking further transmission to other people. Novartis reports a cure rate of 99.2% for GanLum, meeting World Health Organization recommendations for new antimalarial treatments to have a cure rate of 95% or more. Experts have expressed excitement over the results, relieved that there is now a new treatment for malaria that is not based on artemisinin, the wonder antimalarial drug. There have been concerns about the lack of new drug treatments in the face of emerging parasite resistance to artemisinin, which is included in all current WHO-recommended combination drug treatments for uncomplicated malaria. “This is not a wholesale stampede to the door to switch away from artemisinins,” which continue to work against malaria, George Jagoe, executive vice president for access and product management at MMV, said in a press briefing. “But the fact that Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda had enough resistant strains banging around to allow a clinical study to evaluate [this new treatment], that’s a smoke signal, and that smoke signal worries us.” With the positive results from the trial, Novartis will apply for regulatory approvals. If authorized, it would be the first major innovation in malaria treatment since artemisinin-based antimalarial therapies were introduced more than two decades ago, according to a news release. Experts are hoping the new treatment will become available to countries within a year and a half, and will generate evidence of how it works in real-life settings. They think it should be used as part of first-line therapy options against malaria in countries most at risk of parasite resistance, such as Rwanda. Novartis has not yet disclosed pricing. But Sujata Vaidyanathan, global health development unit head at Novartis, said “we’ve always committed to making sure that these medicines are available at a nonprofit basis for us, at-cost basis, and we'll continue to do the same.”