MDGH representation at the International Congress For Tropical Medicine and Malaria (18-22 November 2016)

Current pharmaceutical research and development efforts remain inadequate to address the scope of social disadvantage, morbidity and mortality resulting from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Regulatory risk and return on investment are two key barriers to these efforts. Compared to de novo drug discovery and development, repurposing registered veterinary medicines for human health use is an attractive but underutilised approach: it significantly decreases regulatory risk, costs and time to registration for human use.

Moxidectin, a broad spectrum endectocide registered for veterinary use, has potential as an important global health medicine for humans. Non-clinical efficacy and safety data align moxidectin with the target product profiles (TPP) for 5 human NTDs: it is tractable to a variety of formulations, including fixed dose combinations, and is efficacious against endo- and ectoparasites (including ivermectin-resistant strains). Moxidectin was well tolerated in clinical trials in onchocerciasis with a safety profile similar to ivermectin but with a longer half-life of 20-43 days. The strong alignment between unmet global health needs and moxidectin’s physicochemical and pharmacological properties has resulted in development for both onchocerciasis and scabies. Moxidectin serves to highlight the value of using a systematic TPP-based approach to revisit the potential of veterinary medicines to address human diseases.