|
In
a late-stage trial in Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya, more than 90% of
the participants, infected children aged from three months to
six years, had no more parasite eggs in their stool or urine
after up to three weeks of treatment, the drugmaker said, adding
it would now seek regulatory approval.
The oral drug arpraziquantel, an experimental paediatric version
of standard drug praziquantel, was developed by Astellas in
Japan and further optimised by Merck.
It was also shown to have a favourable safety and tolerability,
Merck added.
Merck, acting on behalf of the non-profit Pediatric Praziquantel
Consortium , will seek approval with the European Union's drug
regulator under a programme for new drugs that addresses urgent
needs in countries outside Europe.
The consortium confirmed the positive results in a separate
statement and said that schistosomiasis is one of the most
damaging parasitic diseases, affecting about 240 million people.
Praziquantel is the standard treatment for school-aged children
and adults, leaving an estimated 50 million toddlers and pre-schoolers
without a treatment option.
The disease, also known as bilharzia, is caused by parasitic
flatworms, spreads via freshwater snails in tropical and
subtropical regions across the globe but mostly affects poor and
rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Nick Macfie)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
