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India may get its malaria drug by 2018

Contrary to the perception that drug research is mostly focused around the diseases of the elite, the antimalarial drug pipeline has increased nearly three-fold since 2008, with at least three new medicines expected to be launched in two to five years.

India, where a lot of clinical trials have already begun, is likely to get a breakthrough anti-malarial drug Tafenoquine by 2018. The drug, a one-day two-dose treatment, has already entered phase-three trials and once approved will replace the current 14-day treatment for plasmodium vivax malaria, which is prevalent in India. At least two other molecules — artefenomel and KAF 156 —are also in advanced stages of development with researchers expecting a positive outcome over the next five years.

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