GSK, WHO BEGIN MALARIA DRUG TRIALS IN AFRICA

Under a collaboration involving GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the Medicines for Malaria Venture and the World Health Organization (WHO), Phase III trials have begun in sub-Saharan Africa to evaluate a potential treatment for malaria.

CDA (chlorproguanil hydrochloride-dapsone-artesunate) is being developed as a fixed-dose combination to meet the need for malaria treatments.

Two trials of CDA will involve almost 2,300 patients. One study will compare the cure rates of CDA with those of Coartem (artemether/lumefantrine), a widely used malaria treatment, at 28 days. The second will compare CDA's efficacy at 28 days to that of Lapdap, a fixed-dose combination pill containing chlorproguanil and dapsone.