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Home > Diseases
sleeping sickness icon

Sleeping sickness

Developing new drugs to eliminate a deadly tropical disease

Home > Diseases
sleeping sickness icon

Sleeping sickness

Developing new drugs to eliminate a deadly tropical disease

  • Overview
  • Facts
  • Projects & achievements
  • Target product profiles

We revolutionized the treatment of sleeping sickness with a simple, all-oral cure to replace toxic, cumbersome medicines. We are now advancing studies of a single-pill, single-dose treatment that could provide a radical boost for sustainable elimination.

Caused by parasites transmitted by the tsetse fly, people develop sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis) after an initial phase with symptoms like headache and fever. In the second stage, parasites attack the central nervous system, causing sleep disruption, severe neuropsychiatric disorders, convulsions, and coma. Without treatment, it is usually fatal.

For decades, the only treatment available for sleeping sickness was melarsoprol, an arsenic derivative that killed 1 in 20 patients.

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people with moderate to high risk of being infected
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of reported cases in the last ten years were in the DRC
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SEE DISEASE FACTS

‘I lost weight, I had fever, I started talking to myself. I was hot, I couldn’t do anything. I was vomiting and couldn’t eat. By the time I made it to the hospital, I was near delirious: singing, rolling on the floor, dancing. I felt crazy.’

Charnelle is a sleeping sickness survivor from the village of Kombi Makopa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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What we have achieved

We have revolutionized the treatment of sleeping sickness, replacing toxic, cumbersome medicines with a simple all-oral cure.

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Treatment Delivered

Fexinidazole for T.b. rhodesiense

Less common – but more severe. We evaluated fexinidazole to treat the less common T.b. rhodesiense strain of sleeping sickness found in Eastern and Southern Africa. A safe and effective alternative to current drugs, it was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2023.

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Treatment Delivered

Fexinidazole for T.b. gambiense

An all-new, all-oral patient-friendly treatment. Approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2018, DNDi’s first ‘new chemical entity’ cures the most common form of sleeping sickness in just 10 days of simple, 1-pill-per-day treatment.

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Treatment Delivered

Nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT)

The first improved treatment for sleeping sickness. Before DNDi delivered nifurtimox and eflornithine combination therapy in 2009, doctors often had no choice but to treat sleeping sickness with melarsoprol, a highly toxic, arsenic-based drug that killed 1 in 20 patients.

What we are doing for people living with sleeping sickness

We are working towards reaching the last cases of sleeping sickness. Through our HAT Platform, a multi-country clinical research network, we continue to train local researchers and conduct clinical trials in remote and conflict-affected areas to develop even better tools to prevent resurgence.

Read more in our Annual Report
SEE TARGET PRODUCT PROFILE
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Clinical trials

Acoziborole

A radical boost for sustainable elimination. This single-dose sleeping sickness treatment could be a true game-changer for people at risk of this deadly disease.

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Sleeping sickness news & resources

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News
Press releases
Publications
Scientific articles
Stories
Videos
Viewpoints
Scientific articles
29 Apr 2025

Effectiveness and safety of fexinidazole for gambiense human African trypanosomiasis and exploration of adherence in outpatients: A phase IIIb, prospective, open-label, non-randomised, cohort study

The Lancet Global Health
Scientific articles
29 Apr 2025

Fexinidazole as a new oral treatment for human African trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense: A prospective, open-label, single-arm, Phase II–III, non-randomised study

The Lancet Global Health
Father with his son in rural setting
News
4 Mar 2025

2024 R&D programmes in review: Sleeping sickness

Veja Saúde
Viewpoints
17 Feb 2025

Doença do sono derrotada: lições de uma bem-sucedida missão na África

Veja Saúde
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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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Chagas disease

Causes heart and vital organ damage, after people are bitten by blood-sucking bugs

We delivered the first-ever treatment for children; now we’re searching for new drug candidates and working to boost access to care

Patient medical examination

Cryptococcal meningitis

Without treatment, deadly for thousands of people with advanced HIV

We’re working to improve access to life-saving treatments and developing an easier-to-use formulation

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Cutaneous leishmaniasis

Leaves disfiguring, life-long scars that lead to severe social stigma

We’re working to develop safer, shorter treatments for this disabling disease

Doctor with young patient in hospital setting

Dengue

Rapidly spreading climate-sensitive disease with no specific treatment

We’re building a global partnership with dengue-endemic countries to develop a first treatment

Father walking in rural village with a cane and holding his son's hand

Filaria: river blindness

Lead to unbearable itching, disfiguring skin lesions, and even blindness

We’re working to develop a safe, effective, and affordable drug for the prevention and treatment of this debilitating disease

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Hepatitis C

Millions are left without treatment even though effective drugs exist

We’ve delivered a treatment as simple, safe, and effective as the best drugs available today – at a fraction of the cost 

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Mycetoma

Often ends in amputation​, after people get infected from stepping on a thorn

We conducted the world’s first trial for an alternative to current treatments, which are toxic and difficult to administer

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Paediatric HIV

Without treatment, half of children die before their second birthday

We’ve developed a strawberry-flavoured treatment to meet the needs of children long neglected by the global HIV response

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Pandemic Preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified global health inequalities

We’re bringing together partners and accelerating research to prepare for future viral pandemics in low-resource settings

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Sleeping sickness

Transmitted by the bite of a tsetse fly and causes severe neurological disorders

We delivered a revolutionary new drug to replace toxic treatments, and have ongoing trials to eliminate this disease

Girl looking over a fence

Visceral leishmaniasis

Is one of the world’s biggest parasitic killers, spread by the bites of sandflies

We’re working to develop a new generation of treatments to replace drugs that are painful, ineffective, and cause side effects

Chagas disease

Cryptococcal meningitis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis

Dengue

Filaria: river blindness

Hepatitis C

Mycetoma

Paediatric HIV

Pandemic Preparedness

Sleeping sickness

Visceral leishmaniasis

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