OneWorld Health’s Pioneering VL Treatment PMIM Now Registered in Nepal

Feb. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Lifesaving Medicine Gaining More Access in South Asia

OneWorld Health (OWH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing lifesaving medicines for neglected diseases, announced that its antibiotic Paromomycin Intramuscular Injection (PMIM), developed to treat visceral leishmaniasis (VL or kala-azar), has been registered by the government of Nepal. This is the second registration for PMIM in South Asia. It was previously registered with the government of India and added to the National Lists of Essential Medicines of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It was also added to the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines.

Now that the treatment is registered in Nepal, OWH will move forward with its partners on public health studies to help the government determine the best way to distribute and use the treatment in its public health system throughout the VL-endemic regions.

With approximately 500,000 new cases occurring annually, visceral leishmaniasis is the world’s second most deadly parasitic disease after malaria. Fatal if untreated, the official death toll for VL each year is between 50,000 and 60,000. VL is endemic in 79 countries, and primarily afflicts rural, resource-poor populations in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Iraq, Sudan, and Brazil, where affordable therapies are needed.

About Paromomycin Intramuscular Injection
An off-patent aminoglycoside antibiotic, paromomycin is an established drug with an extensive history of use and a well-characterized safety profile. OWH developed PMIM as an effective, inexpensive, and safe treatment for VL, and worked with the Indian government and Indian pharmaceutical company Gland Pharma to manufacture and distribute the treatment. PMIM is administered as a once-a-day injection for 21 days. The cost of a course of treatment with PMIM is less than US$20, which is significantly lower than other currently approved VL therapies.

About OneWorld Health
OneWorld Health discovers, develops, and delivers safe, effective, and affordable new treatments for neglected infectious diseases afflicting children in the developing world. For more information, please visit www.oneworldhealth.org.

OneWorld Health is an affiliate of PATH, an international nonprofit organization that transforms global health through innovation. To learn more about PATH, visit www.path.org.

Media Contact

Alyson Chadwick
The Halo Project
Mobile: 202-480-0259
achadwick@thehaloproject.com
Elena Pantjushenko
Associate, External Affairs, OWH
Office: +1 650-392-2537
Mobile: +1 415-341-4140
epantjushenko@oneworldhealth.org

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The mission of the Institute for One World Health is to develop safe, effective and affordable new medicines for people with infectious diseases in the developing world. More information can be found at www.oneworldhealth.org.