A mother and her child sitting on a bed covered with a mosquito net to protect against malaria-carrying mosquitoes near the town of Bagamoyo in Tanzania. The African nation is one of eight that is expediting approval of the first malaria drug for infants weighing less than 4.5kg. — AFP filepic
The first malaria treatment for newborns and young infants has received approval from Swiss health regulators, with eight African countries poised to roll the drug out rapidly, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced on July 8 (2025).
Malaria is a major killer in Africa, with the continent accounting for 95% of the 597,000 deaths from the disease worldwide in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Of those deaths, about 76% – more than 432,000 – were children under five years old, according to the WHO.
The infant version of the combined drugs artemether and lumefantrine was developed by Novartis in collaboration with the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a Geneva-based organisation specialising in research and development of medicines against the disease.
“Until now, there has been no approved malaria treatment for infants weighing less than 4.5kg,” Novartis said in a statement.
The approval from Switzerland’s health authority is for a dose designed for babies weighing two to five kilogrammes.
Eight of the countries hit hardest by malaria – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda – participated in the Swiss approval process.
The countries are now expected to approve the treatment quickly themselves, under a programme to facilitate access to medicines for low- and middle-income countries, Novartis said.
The pharmaceutical company said it would introduce the treatment “on a largely not-for-profit basis” to increase access in places where the mosquito-borne disease is endemic.
An estimated 263 million people worldwide had malaria in 2023, according to the WHO.
Funding to fight the disease is under threat after US President Donald Trump’s moves to cut foreign aid.
The US government previously provided around 40% of annual funding globally for control and research into malaria. – AFP
