Filaria: river blindness
Developing a rapid cure for millions at risk of blindness
‘Sometimes I cry all night, sometimes from suffering, sometimes from misery, and sometimes from poverty… My heart hurts from my lack of hope. I live a life of suffering.’
What we have achieved
We have built a portfolio of four R&D projects for river blindness and are pursuing the pre-clinical development of drug candidates.
What we are doing for people with river blindness
We aim to complete development and register at least one new drug for river blindness. We are also seeking to identify potential new drug candidates by evaluating registered drugs, as well as pre-clinical and clinical drug candidates to populate the empty drug pipeline.
New effective, field-adapted drug. Together with Bayer Pharma, we are working to develop emodepside as a new treatment for river blindness with the potential to kill both adult filarial worms and their embryonic larvae, which can cause debilitating and disfiguring clinical symptoms.
Based on encouraging pre-clinical data, DNDi and our partners in the HELP Consortium are moving forward with the pharmaceutical development of oxfendazole, identified in 2016 as a potential treatment for river blindness capable of eliminating adult worms.
River blindness news & resources
Making medical history for neglected patients
We develop urgently needed treatments for neglected patients and ensure they’re affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who need them
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