[Ip-health] WSJ: GlaxoSmithKline to Stop Selling, Developing Malaria Drugs

[Matt Price]

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120430791681703371.html

GlaxoSmithKline to Stop
Selling, Developing Malaria Drugs By *JEANNE WHALEN*
February 29, 2008 1:05 p.m.

In a blow to efforts to fight malaria,
GlaxoSmithKline<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=gsk>PLC
said it will stop selling one malaria drug and stop developing another
because both appear to lower haemoglobin levels in the blood of some
patients, which can lead to anemia.

There are other drugs on the market that treat malaria, but public health
officials want as many as possible to promote price competition and to give
doctors more options in treating the disease. Malaria is borne by mosquitoes
and kills more than one million people each year, mostly in the developing
world, according to the World Health Organization.

The two drugs affected by Glaxo's decision are its still experimental pill
Dacart and its older drug Lapdap.

Glaxo was developing Dacart in partnership with the Medicines for Malaria
Venture, a non-profit group. The partners had planned to sell the drug at
cost if the pill made it to market.

Dacart combines Lapdap with a form of artemisinin, a natural substance
derived from a Chinese plant. In a clinical trial comparing Dacart to
Novartis <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=nvs> AG's
Coartem, some patients taking Dacart experienced a bigger drop in
haemoglobin levels in their blood than those taking Coartem, Glaxo said in a
statement.

Another trial comparing Dacart to Lapdap showed that some patients taking
both drugs experienced significant falls in haemoglobin levels, Glaxo said.

That prompted Glaxo to now recall Lapdap from pharmacies in Kenya, the only
country where Lapdap is currently sold, the company said.

Glaxo called the news "disappointing" but said it was "committed to working
with partners such as MMV (Medicines for Malaria Venture) to seek solutions
for patients suffering from this devastating disease."

*Write to* Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com