WANECAM-2 consortium reports positive results from phase 2b study of novel treatment for children with malaria
Today, the West African Network for Clinical Trials of Antimalarial Drugs (WANECAM-2) consortium has announced positive results from the phase 2b KALUMI study of the novel, non-artemisinin drug ganaplacide combined with a new once-daily formulation of lumefantrine. The results were presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting in New Orleans.
The KALUMI results confirm the findings of an earlier successful phase 2b trial. KALUMI provides important data for ganaplacide-lumefantrine in the group of children aged between 2 years and 6 months for the first time and uses the same dose and regimen that is now being studied in the phase 3 KALUMA trial of ganaplacide-lumefantrine. Results from KALUMA are expected in 2025.
“EDCTP congratulates the WANECAM2 consortium on the development of a novel antimalarial combination that will help to save the lives of young children in malaria-endemic areas.”
Dr Montserrat Blázquez-Domingo, Senior Project Officer, EDCTP Association
The WANECAM-2 network is conducting clinical trials of a novel antimalarial combination comprising KAF156 (ganaplacide) and lumefantrine (LUM-SDF) in a once-daily formulation. KAF156 has demonstrated the potential to treat drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite and to be administered as a single dose. This EDCTP-supported network is led and coordinated by Professor Abdoulaye Djimdé of the Université des Sciences, des Techniques et des Technologies de Bamako (USTTB), Bamako, Mali, with partners from Burkina Faso, France, Gabon, Germany, the Netherlands, Niger, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It is a unique collaboration of ten academic institutions, in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company, Novartis AG, and a not-for-profit product development partnership (PDP), Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). EDCTP is investing € 10 million in the project, with additional funding from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) and the UK Department for Health and Social Care (UK DHSC).