Delivery of Coartem® Dispersible reaches a landmark of 300 million treatments
Novartis announced today that 300 million treatments of the child-friendly antimalarial, Coartem® Dispersible (artemether-lumefantrine), have been supplied without profit since its launch in 2009. Never before have so many paediatric treatments been distributed in such a short timeframe to children suffering from malaria. The pleasant-tasting, easy-to-administer formulation of Coartem Dispersible has helped to reduce the disease burden for children. It has been distributed in 50 malaria-endemic countries, and is now the standard of care in over 30.
Coartem Dispersible, developed by Novartis in collaboration with MMV, is the first high-quality artemisinin-combination therapy (ACT) specifically targeting the needs of children. The medicine is one of the innovations considered to have helped achieve the dramatic 71% reduction since 2000 in the malaria death rate for children under the age of 5 years in Africa.1
“This is a fantastic achievement and we are proud to have partnered with Novartis on the development of Coartem Dispersible, helping children who are most at risk of this deadly disease,” said Dr David Reddy, CEO of MMV. “The World Malaria Report 2015, just released by WHO, shows that we are making significant strides in reducing child mortality from malaria, and this is largely thanks to sustained international commitment and the availability of a range of innovative tools and solutions, including quality child-friendly medicines like Coartem Dispersible. MMV applauds Novartis for making this important drug widely available on a not-for-profit basis to children in need and achieving this significant milestone.”
Read the news on the Novartis website.