The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7231 p45
11 January 2003

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The Lancet (www.thelancet.com)

New drug for treating malaria

Fosmidomycin, a phosphonic acid derivative, is a safe and effective treatment for uncomplicated malaria in adults, researchers say.

Fosmidomycin has been shown, in vitro, to suppress the growth of multi-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Researchers assessed the tolerability of fosmidomycin 1.2g, given orally every eight hours, in 27 adults with signs and symptoms of P falciparum malaria. Nine of them were treated for five days, eight for four days and 10 for three days.

They found that by day 14, 89 per cent of those treated for five days, 88 per cent of those treated for four days and 60 per cent of those treated for three days were cured. Symptoms, such as fever, rapidly resolved. Although parasitaemia reoccurred in one patient in each of the five-day and four-day treatment groups and in four patients in the three-day group, parasite clearance was rapid and did not differ between the groups. An increase in the proportion of gametocyte carriers was observed on day 14 compared with that at the start of treatment, which, the researchers say, is a worry because of the potential risk of enhanced transmission.

However, the researchers comment that the data should be interpreted with caution as the study involved a small number of patients (Lancet 2002;360:1941)