Phase II/III study results support acoziborole's potential in sleeping sickness

Treatment success rates of up to 95% from a Phase II/III study investigating the safety and efficacy of single-dose acoziborole, a potentially transformative investigational treatment for sleeping sickness, are published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal.

Acoziborole (SCYX-7158) is an antiprotozoal drug that was invented by Anacor Pharmaceuticals in 2009, and is now under development by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in partnership with French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN). The clinical trial was led by DNDi and its partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Guinea.

Dr Victor Kandel, former neglected tropical diseases expert advisor at the Ministry of Health of the DRC, principal investigator of the trial, and lead author of the Lancet article, commented: “Sleeping sickness is a nightmare disease that affects patients in some of the most remote settings in West and Central Africa, where distance from hospital can be measured in days. We are now on the cusp of a potential treatment that can be given in one day, in a single dose of three pills – this would be a revolution for doctors and communities.”