Novartis Releases Dissolvable Cherry-Flavored Version of ACT Coartem for Treating Malaria Among Children
Novartis on Tuesday announced the launch of a pediatric version of its artemisinin-based combination therapy Coartem, the Wall Street Journal reports (Guth, Wall Street Journal, 1/27). According to Reuters, Novartis will provide the treatment at no cost in collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture (Rhodes, Reuters, 1/27).The pill, called Coartem Dispersible, is the first dissolvable fixed-dose ACT developed to treat malaria among children, according to Dow Jones/Morningstar.com (Dow Jones/Morningstar.com, 1/27). Coartem, which is bitter-tasting and too large for children to swallow, often is crushed for pediatric administration. The new version is small, cherry-flavored, and dissolves in water to ensure easy administration and effective dosage. Novartis and MMV tested the pill in Africa in a variety of flavors, including mango, and were "surprise[d]" that African children "who had never tasted cherry" liked the new pill, Chris Hentschel, chief executive of MMV, said. The formulation, which has received regulatory approval from Switzerland and several African countries, took four years and millions of dollars to develop, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 1/27).
An October 2008 study published in the journal Lancet found that Coartem Dispersible provided a 97.8% treatment success rate among children, compared with a 98.5% treatment success rate among children who received the adult version of Coartem (Dow Jones/Morningstar.com, 1/27). Richard Feachem, malaria expert and professor at the University of California-San Francisco, said the new pills are "a big step forward" but that "there is no silver bullet" for malaria treatment "and there never will be one."
Although children account for many of the one million malaria deaths that occur annually, there are few efficient channels for distributing medicines in developing countries, according to the Journal. An international not-for-profit fund often helps local governments purchase medicines, which are then distributed at no cost to national medical centers and hospitals. Although Coartem Dispersible would be included in such a program, these drugs frequently do not reach rural villages that lack national health care facilities. In addition, this situation can create a "pile-up" of drugs that never reach certain areas.
In addition to distribution challenges, it likely will be difficult to reduce the price of the new cherry-flavored tablets, the Journal reports. Coartem generally costs about 80 cents per treatment, but local retailers can mark up the price, the Journal reports. MMV is testing methods to subsidize the cost of Coartem and also is working with the Clinton Foundation to reduce the price to five cents per treatment. According to the Journal, MMV also will coordinate with local governments to train health workers to help control and manage malaria in local communities (Wall Street Journal, 1/27). This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
