Swiss Authority Approves First Drug To Treat Infants Sick With Malaria

GENEVA, July 9 (Bernama-WAM) -- Switzerland’s medical products authority has granted the first approval for a malaria medicine designed for small infants, touted as an advance against a disease that takes hundreds of thousands of lives, nearly all in Africa, each year, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

Swissmedic gave the green light on Tuesday for the medicine from Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for treatment of babies with body weights between two and five kilogrammes, which could pave the way for hard-hit African nations to follow suit in the coming months.

The agency said that the decision is significant in part because it’s only the third time it has approved a treatment under a fast-track authorisation process, in coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO), to help developing countries access the needed treatment.

The newly approved medication, Coartem Baby, is a combination of two antimalarials. It is a lower-dose version of a tablet previously approved for other age groups, including older children.

Ruairidh Villar, a Novartis spokesperson, said that eight African countries took part in the assessment and are expected to approve the medicine within 90 days. The company said that it’s planning on a rollout on a “largely not-for-profit basis” in countries where malaria is endemic.

The mosquito-borne illness is the deadliest disease in Africa, whose 1.5 billion people accounted for 95 per cent of an estimated 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, according to WHO. More than three-quarters of those deaths were among children.

-- BERNAMA-WAM