About the Novartis Malaria Initiative
Learn about the disease and what Novartis is doing to contribute to its eradication
This week, the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology of Medicine was jointly awarded to Youyou Tu for the discovery of artemisinin, a key component in malaria treatments. In its 2010 Guidelines for the treatment of malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the importance of treating uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the most dangerous form of the disease, with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as they represent the best therapy currently available.
In 1999, Novartis launched a new class of ACTs, a three-day malaria treatment with a cure rate of over 95% and a safety and efficacy profile demonstrated by a development program spanning over 14 years. A decade later, we launched the first dispersible ACT tailored to meet the needs of children, the most vulnerable to malaria. Since 2001, Novartis has delivered 700 million treatments for adults and children without profit to the public sector of malaria-endemic countries.
For more information on the Novartis Malaria Initiative, please visit here: http://www.malaria.novartis.com/index.shtml
