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Home > Diseases
filarial icon

Filaria: river blindness

Target product profile for filarial diseases

Home > Diseases
filarial icon

Filaria – river blindness

Target product profile for filarial diseases

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

Target product profile for river blindness

DNDi aims to develop a three-day oral treatment for river blindness (onchocerciasis), suitable for all ages and superior to current options, active against adult and immature worms, and safe for use in patients co-infected with Loa Loa.

IdealAcceptable
FormulationOral form Oral form, injection, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection
Target populationAll individuals who are at risk for onchocerciasisAll infected patients, with the exception of pregnant women and children younger than 5 years.
Treatment regimenOral dose, once a day, up to 3 days
One dosage for all ages
Oral dose, once or twice a day
Duration of treatment up to 14 days
One single intramuscular or subcutaneous injection or repeated after a week (2 injections)
One dose for adults and weight/age-adjusted or height-based dosing for children
EfficacySuperior to comparator in eliminating skin microfilariae at 24 months
with evidence of impacting adult worms (killing adults or embryos)
Superior to comparator in eliminating skin microfilariae at 24 months with evidence of impacting adult worms (killing adults or embryos)
Safety/tolerabilityAdverse events
• No monitoring for AE required
• No impact on activities of daily living
• No Mazzoti reaction
• No adverse ocular reaction

Population for restricted use at registration
• None

Precaution/Warnings
• None

Use in specific populations:
• Safe for use in patients co-infected with L. loa
• No monitoring needed (no rapid microfilariae activity)
Adverse events (AE)
Minor and manageable side effects
• Monitoring for AEs manageable at local healthcare post
• Moderate impact on activities of daily living
• No severe Mazzoti reaction
• No severe adverse ocular reaction

Population for restricted use at registration
• Pregnant women
• Lactating women (treatment duration according to pharmacokinetics of drug)

Precaution/Warnings
• Concomittant infections (e.g., loaiasis)
• Acute illness (e.g., fever, bacterial infection)

Use in specific populations:
• Pre-treatment assessment and careful post-treatment follow-up should be available for patients with Loa- loa coinfection.
• Exclusion of high Loa-loa mf/mL co-infected patients
Drug-drug interactions • No clinically significant drug-drug interaction with commonly used anti-parasitic and anti-infective drugs.
• No evidence for clinically significant, adverse interactions with long-term/chronic use drugs (e.g., anti-tuberculosis drugs, antiretrovirals, contraceptives).
• No evidence for clinically significant, adverse interactions with drugs commonly administered through mass drug administration (e.g., ivermectin, praziquantel, other benzimidazoles, azithromycin), and anti-malarial drugs.
Manageable for individual case treatment
StabilityMore than 3 years in climatic zone IVb3 years in climatic zone IVb

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

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

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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

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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

Young man standing in the street

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

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

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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