Research Roundup: Rising malaria resistance, Point-of-care influenza test, Pre-extensively drug-resistant TB treatment
Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC)
Advancing innovation to save lives
TOP NEWS IN R&D
Global Health NOW (11/14), features ASTMH
A study published last week and presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene’s (ASTMH’s) annual meeting found that the malaria parasite is acquiring partial resistance to artemisinin, a key drug used to treat children with severe malaria, meaning that infection takes longer to clear and is not always being completely cleared by the drug. The researchers found partial resistance to the drug in 11 of the 100 children treated in the study, with 10 patients “cured” of severe malaria having a resurgence of the same strain within a month of the original infection, implying that the first treatment did not fully eliminate the parasite. More studies are needed to determine how widespread artemisinin resistance is in Africa. Still, the findings underscore the need for novel or alternative drugs to be used in the treatment of severe malaria.?
360Dx (11/14)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded Alveo Technologies a contract to develop a molecular assay to detect and differentiate the H5 subtype of avian influenza A from seasonable influenza A and B viruses in humans, as the ongoing spread of H5N1 in animals across the United States raises concerns about a new pandemic as regular flu season looms. Currently, only CDC and US state and jurisdictional public health labs have access to CDC’s molecular test to detect the H5 strain of influenza A, which could lead to delays in diagnosis or treatment if we start to see transmission between humans. Decentralized testing capabilities at the point of care will be needed to ensure any spread between humans is detected and controlled quickly to avoid another pandemic, as well as to reduce the burden on centralized laboratories.
endTB consortium press release (11/13)
Last week, the endTB consortium announced the completion of the endTB-Q trial, the first Phase 3 randomized controlled trial to exclusively enroll people with pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (pre-XDR-TB), with preliminary results demonstrating that a shorter, less toxic treatment strategy of four drugs achieved high cure rates overall, especially in those with non-severe cases of TB disease. Pre-XDR-TB has historically been treated with toxic regimens that last up to two years, are hard to tolerate, and are not very effective. This study tested a personalized medicine strategy, with disease severity and early treatment response used to decide between a six- or nine-month treatment regimen. The study included participants from India, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Pakistan, Peru, and Vietnam.
NEWS FROM GHTC
Statement on the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation and Equitable Access
GHTC, FIND, Medicines for Malaria Venture, IAVI, PATH, and TB Alliance joint statement (11/15)
STAT?(11/12), cowritten by Blueprint Biosecurity Executive Director Jacob Swett
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK
CIDRAP?(11/15)
DrugTopics?(11/13)
NBC News?(11/12)
Reuters (11/11)
Science (11/11)
CIDRAP?(11/11)
AVIAN FLU R&D ROUNDUP
CIDRAP?(11/13)
CIDRAP?(11/12)
CIDRAP?(11/12)
The Guardian?(11/11)
MPOX R&D ROUNDUP
CNN?(11/16)
Reuters?(11/13)
Newsweek?(11/11)
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 18-21
Virtual; Washington, DC
November 19
Virtual
November 21
New Delhi, India
December 3
Virtual
December 3
Virtual
December 5
Virtual
February 4-5
Virtual
Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Subscribe to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup.
Photo credit: PATH/Enoch Kavindele Jr