• DNDi logo
  • COVID-19
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Hepatitis C
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • HAT Platform
      • HELP Helminth Elimination Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Global Headquarters
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi East Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
      • DNDi Southern Africa
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
DNDi logo
  • DNDi logo
  • COVID-19
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Hepatitis C
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • HAT Platform
      • HELP Helminth Elimination Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Global Headquarters
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi East Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
      • DNDi Southern Africa
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
Home > Neglected tropical diseases & neglected patients
sleeping sickness icon

Sleeping sickness

Developing new drugs to eliminate a deadly tropical disease

Home > Neglected tropical diseases & neglected patients
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.

Icon people in front of globe
0 million
people live in areas at moderate to very high risk  
Map DRC
0 %
of sleeping sickness cases in 2019 were reported in DRC
Icon parasite
< 0
cases of the T.b. gambiense strain diagnosed in 2019
SEE DISEASE FACTS
DOWNLOAD FACTSHEET

‘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.
READ MORE

What we have achieved

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

icon-treatments
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.

icon-treatments
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.

SEE TARGET PRODUCT PROFILE
Clinical trials

Fexinidazole for T.b. rhodesiense

Less common – but more severe. We are evaluating fexinidazole to treat the less common T.b. rhodesiense strain of sleeping sickness, affecting people in East and Southern Africa. The highly toxic drug melarsoprol is the only treatment currently available for the advanced stage of this form of the disease.

Clinical trials

Acoziborole

A radical boost for sustainable elimination. With clinical studies underway in DRC and Guinea, this single-pill, single-dose sleeping sickness treatment could be a true game-changer for people at risk of this deadly disease.

see all projects

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

Doctor diagnosing a man in a village with his hands on the man's neck

Sleeping sickness

Is 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

Young boy sitting on a hospital bed being examined by a nurse

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

Girl with skin lesions on her nose

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

Young man standing in the street

Hepatitis C

Millions are left without treatment even though effective drugs exist

We’re working to deliver a treatment as simple, safe, and effective as the best drugs available today – at a fraction of the cost 

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

Woman standing in front of her door house in a rural village in Sudan

Mycetoma

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

We’re conducting the world’s first trial for an alternative to current treatments, which are toxic and ineffective

Mother holding her baby in her arms smiling

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

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

Cutaneous leishmaniasis

Filaria: river blindness

Hepatitis C

Mycetoma

Paediatric HIV

Sleeping sickness

Visceral leishmaniasis

Stay connected

Get our latest news, personal stories, research articles, and job opportunities. 

DNDi logo
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin-in Youtube
International non-profit developing safe, effective, and affordable treatments for the most neglected patients.

Learn more

  • Diseases
  • R&D portfolio
  • Policy advocacy

Get in touch

  • Our offices
  • Contact us
  • Integrity Line

Support us

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to eNews

Work with us

  • Join research networks
  • Jobs
  • RFPs
  • Terms of Use   
  •   Acceptable Use Policy   
  •   Privacy Policy   
  •   Cookie Policy   
  •   Our policies   

  • Except for images, films and trademarks which are subject to DNDi’s Terms of Use, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Switzerland License   
We use cookies to track our audience and improve our content. By continuing to browse our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.CLOSECOOKIE POLICY