Novartis hails Coartem potential

Novartis has hailed the potential of Coartem (artemether 20mg/lumefantrine 120mg), its investigational artemisinin-based combination treatment (ACT) for malaria.

The company said the compound has achieved high cure rates in clinical studies and has helped save an estimated 500,000 lives since 2001.

It is recommended by the World Health Organisation and is widely used in Africa.

This week, Coartem received priority review status from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Novartis said the awarding of this status underlines the urgency of stopping malaria, which is a key goal of the initiative from the president.

It added it has supplied over 195 million treatments to malaria-endemic countries without profit via partnership working with the international community.

Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, malaria coordinator for the US, said: “ACTs play an important role in the fight against malaria.”

He added that he is pleased to learn that Novartis is seeking wider regulatory approval for Coartem, as it has already had a significant impact on the disease in Africa.

In April 2007, Novartis announced the delivery of 4.7 million doses of Coartem to the United Republic of Tanzania as part of its efforts to broaden access to the drug in countries where the disease is endemic.