US FDA approves Krintafel for radical cure of P. vivax malaria

First single-dose medicine to prevent the relapse of P. vivax malaria marks a major contribution towards malaria eradication efforts

GSK and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved, under Priority Review, single-dose Krintafel (tafenoquine) for the radical cure (prevention of relapse) of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria in patients aged 16 years and older who are receiving appropriate antimalarial therapy for acute P. Vivaxinfection.

Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President of Research and Development, GSK, said, “Today’s approval of Krintafel, the first new treatment for Plasmodium vivax malaria in over 60 years, is a significant milestone for people living with this type of relapsing malaria. Together with our partner, Medicines for Malaria Venture, we believe Krintafel will be an important medicine for patients with malaria and contribute to the ongoing effort to eradicate this disease.”

Dr David Reddy, CEO, MMV said, “The US FDA’s approval of Krintafel is a major milestone and a significant contribution towards global efforts to eradicate malaria. The world has waited decades for a new medicine to counter P. vivax malaria relapse. Today, we can say the wait is over. Moreover, as the first ever single-dose for this indication, Krintafel will help improve patient compliance. We are proud to have worked side-by-side with GSK for more than a decade to reach this point. Our focus is now on working to ensure the medicine reaches the vulnerable patients that need it most.”

The approval was based on efficacy and safety data from a comprehensive global clinical development P. vivax radical cure programme designed in agreement with the FDA. 13 studies in healthy volunteers and patients directly supported the programme. The primary evidence for the clinical efficacy and safety of the 300mg single-dose, to which more than 800 subjects were exposed, was provided by three randomised, double-blind studies: DETECTIVE Part 1 and Part 2 (TAF112582) and GATHER (TAF116564). The results of the two phase III studies were announced in June 2017. The submission included data analysed from a total of thirty-three studies involving more than 4,000 trial subjects exposed to the 300 mg single-dose and other doses of tafenoquine.

With the approval of Krintafel, the FDA awarded GSK a tropical disease priority review voucher. The tropical disease priority review voucher programme is designed to encourage development of new drugs and biological products for prevention and treatment of certain neglected tropical diseases affecting millions of people throughout the world.

The new drug application (NDA) was submitted by GSK to the FDA in November 2017 and a regulatory submission was also made to the Australian Therapeutics Good Administration (TGA) in December 2017. A decision from the TGA is awaited. Approvals by FDA and TGA will be informative to other regulatory agencies for their own approval process in malaria-endemic countries where tafenoquine will be provided as a not-for-profit medicine to maximise access to those who need it most.