Delivering innovation for children

A technology landscape by Unitaid and WHO

Children continue to suffer disproportionately from preventable and treatable diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and co-morbidities in low- and middle-income countries.

One of the reasons behind this is the lack of availability of child-friendly health products, despite recent progress in tackling these diseases.

The new technology landscape released by Unitaid, in collaboration with WHO, provides an overview of existing and pipeline technologies that could better allow for more effective administration of essential medicines to children.  The report highlights potential opportunities to apply innovation to critical formulations that meet the unique needs of children.

“The landscape shows the untapped potential to innovate and tackle the challenges facing millions of children needing to take medicine and affected by the deadliest infectious diseases,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Unitaid Executive Director. “Unitaid, WHO and its partners are exploring which innovative delivery systems could enable faster access to better-tailored treatments for children”.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at WHO said: “Innovation to provide better medicines to children in need has huge potential but much more remains to be done. This potential needs to be fully tapped, starting with a thorough survey of the landscape to identify opportunities to accelerate research and development for maximum impact.”

Key innovations that hold great promise include long-acting technologies such as micro needle patches and implants that allow for controlled release through the skin. Oral films that dissolve in the mouth without water, as well as nanoparticles that may be used to improve bioavailability and taste, are also promising solutions.

These solutions have the potential to provide children and their care-givers with better, more efficient and fit-for-purpose treatment solutions, leading to better health outcomes and ultimately saving lives.

Many challenges remain ahead to ensure these innovations are developed and made available for all such as weak market incentives, logistics, operational and technical barriers and complex regulatory pathways. Therefore, strong and continuous commitment to support end-to-end solutions, from research and development to innovation scale-up and roll out is needed.

Unitaid continues to be at the forefront of innovation in medicines for children with more than US$1 billion investments since its inception aimed at accelerating therapeutic innovations for children affected by HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria in low- and middle-income countries.

The paediatric landscape is a call to action to encourage all stakeholders involved, including manufacturers and developers to urgently support the development of these much-needed products.

It is urgent to act now so that children are not left behind, and do not suffer and die from treatable conditions.

Media contact: Maggie Zander | +41 79 593 17 74 | zanderm@unitaid.who.int

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Geneva – On this World TB Day, Unitaid is strengthening its commitment to fight the world’s deadliest infectious killer by protecting the most vulnerable–a mission that is more important than ever as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every year 10 million people fall ill with TB and 1.5 million die from the disease. The world can end the epidemic if the right prevention, tests and treatments are made available to everybody who needs them.

“Attacking this deadly respiratory disease from all sides–prevention, diagnosis and treatment–is even more critical in these extraordinary times of COVID-19, where thousands of vulnerable people are dying and health systems are struggling to keep up,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Unitaid Executive Director a.i.

Unitaid is the world’s largest multilateral funder of TB research and development. The organization invests in better, more affordable drugs, faster, more accurate diagnostics and integrated models of care to tackle TB and its drug-resistant forms.

In 2019, Unitaid invested a further US$ 50 million in the fight against TB. Three new projects will bring gene-based diagnosis, better treatments for children and ingenious technologies that will help patients adhere to their medicines.

In November, Unitaid and partners negotiated a groundbreaking 66 percent price discount for 3HP, a WHO-recommended regimen for TB prevention, a deal that broadens access to this lifesaving treatment to more than 100 countries. The deal came after a Unitaid-funded study showed that 3HP is safe when co-administered with DTG, an effective first-line HIV drug.

Unitaid’s TB portfolio has nearly doubled over the past few years and is on track to reach US$ 300 million by the end of 2020.

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Unitaid invests in revolutionary long-acting medicines

Unitaid invests in long-acting medicines to simplify treatment and prevention for HIV, TB, malaria and HCV

Geneva – Unitaid will invest US$ 39 million in two projects to speed up the development of long-acting versions of medicines for low- and middle-income countries. Innovative ways to administer drugs, which have revolutionized contraception and the treatment of schizophrenia, could redefine prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, but remain at early stages of research because of market barriers.

Unitaid today signed a US$ 32 million grant with the University of Liverpool and a US$ 6.9 million grant with the University of Washington to help develop and commercialize long-acting medicines for HIV, TB, malaria and hepatitis C (HCV).  Unitaid has invested heavily in creating better, more affordable medicines and making them accessible; the new investments build on that work by making more efficient ways for patients to take them.

“We see an enormous potential in this technology for changing people’s lives,” Unitaid Deputy Executive Director Philippe Duneton said.

University of Washington’s four-year GLAD project will transform combination HIV pill regimens that contain the drug dolutegravir into an injectable that lasts from one to three months. The goal is to develop an effective, long-acting alternative to the daily pill that is now the standard of care.

“We are excited that the GLAD project is in a position to contribute to making the best available HIV combination medicine long-lasting, and to work toward worldwide access,” said Professor Rodney Ho, director of the Targeted, Long-acting and Combination Antiretroviral Program at the University of Washington. “Through the partnership and support of Unitaid, our innovations in targeted drug-combination technology could be leveraged to make a global impact on long-lasting HIV treatment and prevention.”

University of Liverpool’s five-year LONGEVITY project will develop long-acting formulations of drugs for malaria and TB prevention, and a cure for HCV. As part of the project, partners will create a Centre of Excellence in Long-Acting Therapeutics with a laboratory dedicated to product development. Johns Hopkins University, Clinton Health Access Initiative, University of Nebraska, Treatment Action Group and Tandem Nano Ltd. will participate in the project.

“My feeling is that we are witnessing a change in the paradigm for treatment of chronic diseases, but also semi-chronic disease,” said Andrew Owen, professor of pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, where the LONGEVITY project will take place. Owen gave the example of how a long-acting formulation could work for malaria prevention: “The hope is that the medicines will enable entire villages across high-burden countries to be effectively protected from acquiring malaria for the entire duration of the rainy season. We also hope huge benefits will be available for TB prevention and HCV therapy, focusing on high-risk groups across low- and middle-income countries.”

Safe and effective daily oral medicines are available to prevent and treat major diseases, but when they are not taken consistently, treatments fail and illness spreads. Poor adherence can also allow drug-resistant microbes to develop. Long-acting technologies offer a simpler way of administering medicines that frees patients from daily pills, makes it easier for them to start and stay on treatment, and reduces the burden on health systems. In places where certain diseases are stigmatized, long-acting medicines can provide people with a more discreet treatment.

The long-acting medicines projects complement other Unitaid work to expand access to much-needed drugs and diagnostics. The Unitaid-funded Medicines Patent Pool will work to ensure that formulations developed by GLAD and LONGEVITY will be accessible where they are needed.

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