New malaria drug beats standard treatment in Phase 3 trial
GanLum, a new malaria drug, just scored a 97.4% cure rate in a big Phase 3 trial across 12 African countries—beating the usual artemisinin-based treatment, which managed 94%.
Announced by Novartis on November 12, this could be a game-changer as resistance to current drugs keeps rising in Africa.
GanLum is a mix of 2 existing drugs
GanLum mixes ganaplacide (discovered after testing millions of molecules) with an updated version of lumefantrine.
It attacks the malaria parasite's protein transport system, killing even resistant strains and stopping spread.
About 1,700 adults and kids took GanLum once daily for three days during the study.
If cleared, GanLum could back up existing treatments
Novartis is pushing for approval soon.
If cleared, GanLum could back up existing treatments where resistance is making them less effective—helping prevent treatment failures that have cost millions of lives.
For regions hit hardest by malaria, this brings real hope for better outcomes.