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.
“Children with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries . . . are absent from the HIV research and development agenda, and this is largely because they are poor and voiceless and do not represent a lucrative market,” said Bernard Pécoul, MD, MPH, executive director of the DNDi, in a statement.
After discussions with experts in endemic countries and officials from government health agencies in the United States and Europe, the DNDi has set as its first goal the development of an improved first-line protease inhibitor–based regimen for children younger than age 3 years, regardless of prior exposure to antiretroviral drugs.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends antiretroviral therapy for children with HIV infection who are younger than age 2 years. However, the safety and correct doses of key drugs have not been established for very young children and formulations have not been specifically adapted for children.
According to the DNDi, its pediatric HIV therapy has to be easy to administer, better tolerated by children than current drugs, heat stable, and dosed once daily or less. New formulations also should be durable against drug resistance, compatible with tuberculosis drugs, and affordable.
The WHO has reported that more than 2.5 million children younger than age 15 years currently are living with HIV infection. Some 2.3 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, only 28% of children in immediate need of antiretroviral therapy have access to treatment. Without treatment, one-third of children born with HIV will die before their first birthday, 50% will die before they are aged 2 years, and 80% will die before they are aged 5 years.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
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