Single-dose treatment a boost for sleeping sickness

Co-ordinated campaign may end this deadly infection

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A single dose of three tablets may bring to an end sleeping sickness

Africa's long battle against sleeping sickness may be approaching its final chapter as a new single-dose therapy gains international regulatory backing.

The drug, acoziborole, received a positive scientific opinion on February 27 from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency, clearing the way for national approval processes in countries where the disease remains endemic.

The decision was issued under the EU-M4all programme, a regulatory pathway designed to accelerate access to medicines intended primarily for use outside the European Union.

Under this procedure, scientific assessment by European regulators supports approvals in countries facing major public health challenges.