A nonprofit research and development organization has launched a new program to adapt HIV/AIDS medications for safer, more effective pediatric use.
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, announced the new effort in July. The program will build on the DNDi's work in developing and delivering new treatments for such neglected diseases as sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.
HIV infection nearly has been eliminated in infants and children in developed countries because of effective treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus. But the same preventive methods are not widely available in low-income countries.