GENEVA — Switzerland’s medical products authority has granted the first approval for a malaria medicine designed for small infants, touted as an advance against a disease that takes hundreds of thousands of lives – nearly all in Africa – each year.
Swissmedic gave a green light Tuesday for the medicine from Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for treatment of babies with body weights between 2 and 5 kilograms (nearly 4½ to 11 pounds), which could pave the way for hard-hit African nations to follow suit in coming months.
The agency said that the decision is significant in part because it’s only the third time it has approved a treatment under a fast-track authorization process, in coordination with the World Health Organization, to help developing countries access needed treatment.
The newly approved medication, Coartem Baby, is a combination of two antivirals. It is a lower dose version of a tablet previously approved