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Developing a new generation of treatments for one of the world’s leading parasitic killers

Home > Neglected tropical diseases & neglected patients

Visceral leishmaniasis

Developing a new generation of treatments for one of the world’s leading parasitic killers

We delivered two new treatments using existing drugs to make treatment shorter, safer, and more effective. We are now working to revolutionize the standard of care, advancing an unprecedented portfolio of all-new potential drugs to treat people suffering from all forms of the disease.

Visceral leishmaniasis – also known as kala-azar – causes fever, weight loss, spleen and liver enlargement, and, if not treated, death. HIV infection increases the severity of the disease, heightening people’s risk of dying from visceral leishmaniasis.

Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) – a complication of visceral leishmaniasis that appears as a rash or skin condition months or years after successful visceral leishmaniasis treatment – is not deadly but can be disfiguring and stigmatizing.

In some regions affected by visceral leishmaniasis, treatments are poorly tolerated and lengthy, and can be toxic, painful, and costly.

0 million

people and more are at risk of visceral leishmaniasis across the globe

deaths in 2019

0 – 90,000

new cases each year

0 x

The risk of developing active visceral leishmaniasis is up to 2,000 times greater in people living with HIV

‘I stopped going out, stopped playing with my friends fearing they would tease me. People told me my scars were permanent and would ruin my life as I will not get married. I don’t want to go through the trauma I underwent twice due to this disease’

Nisha Kumari, 12, diagnosed with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis, Bihar, India

What we have achieved

We have delivered new treatments using existing drugs to make treatments shorter, safer and more effective.

Clinical trials

New VL treatments (Latin America)

Safe and shorter treatment for VL patients. In Brazil, DNDi collaborated with partners to implement a large clinical trial to assess a new combination therapy against current treatments. Liposomal amphotericin B was shown to be efficacious and safer for the treatment of VL patients in Brazil.

Treatment Delivered

New VL treatments (South Asia)

Overcoming drug resistance and severe side effects. A DNDi-led consortium identified new combinations with cure rates above 95% to replace treatments with severe side effects or poor efficacy due to drug resistance. Trials generated the key evidence needed for policy change in South Asia.

Treatment Delivered

SSG&PM (East Africa)

Shorter, more affordable treatment. DNDi-led clinical trials showed a combination of sodium stibogluconate (SSG) and paromomycin was safe and as effective as treatment with SSG alone. The more affordable combination is easier for patients and cuts treatment time by nearly half.

What we’re doing for people with visceral leishmaniasis

We are working to deliver better combination treatments and new drugs. Together with our partners, we have built an unprecedented portfolio of six new chemical classes, with different mechanisms of action against Leishmania parasites.

The long-term goal: entirely new, oral drugs

Our goal is to radically transform therapy by developing patient-friendly, simple oral therapies that are short, affordable, safe and effective in children and adults in all regions. A novel consortium bringing together pharmaceutical industry, academia, research institutes, and PDPs is building an unprecedented portfolio of promising drug candidates.

Clinical trials

New treatments for PKDL

PKDL could jeopardize elimination efforts. We have shown that PKDL patients can infect sandflies, potentially sustaining the cycle of transmission even when small numbers of visceral leishmaniasis cases are reported. This study was conducted in Bangladesh and similar infectivity studies will be performed in Sudan.

Clinical trials

New treatments for HIV/VL

New hope for a deadly coinfection. Following promising studies in Ethiopia – now being replicated in India – a new and improved treatment option for VL in people co-infected with HIV may be on the horizon.

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

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

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