Medicines Development for Global Health (MDGH) and the World Health Organization Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) announced the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved moxidectin 8 mg oral for the treatment of river blindness (onchocerciasis) in patients aged 12 years and older. The FDA has also awarded MDGH a priority review voucher (PRV).
River blindness is caused by a parasitic worm, Onchocerca volvulus. The disease manifests as severe itching, disfiguring skin conditions and visual impairment, including permanent blindness, caused by the worm's larvae (microfilariae). The approval of moxidectin was based on data from two randomized, double blind, active controlled clinical studies. Each study met its respective primary endpoints, showing a statistically significant superiority of moxidectin over the current standard of care, ivermectin, in suppressing the presence of the microfilariae in skin.
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"FDA approval is a momentous achievement for any biopharmaceutical company, but it is a particularly rare and exciting event in the neglected diseases setting," said Mark Sullivan, Founder and Managing Director of MDGH. "It takes a broad community to develop a new medicine. FDA approval represents decades of work by thousands of scientists, disease control specialists, expert advisors, community health workers, funders and study participants. We particularly acknowledge the US$13 million investment from the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF) as well as the extraordinary persistence and dedication of the team at TDR, without whom this would not have happened."
The PRV legislation was designed to encourage development of new drug and biological products for neglected diseases. The PRV, a saleable item, permits the holder to accelerate the review of a new drug application (NDA) from the standard 10 months to 6 months. This time saving has significant value to the pharmaceutical industry, thus creating an indirect market for neglected disease treatments.