News
The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium: an EDCTP and European Commission success story
The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium, coordinated by Lygature, has been featured in the latest issue of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) e-Magazine, with a focus on the work of the Consortium and interviews with two of its project members, Maurice Odiere (Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)) and Beatrice Greco (Merck).
In the feature article, Maurice talks about the Consortium’s Phase III trial, completed towards the end of last year, while Beatrice focuses on the Consortium’s innovative approach to ensuring equitable access to the new treatment for preschool-age children, once registered.
Read the full feature
Ahead of the release of the e-Magazine feature, the Consortium was highlighted as an EDCTP2 success story during a webinar celebrating the launch of the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking. Dr. Jutta Reinhard-Rupp, Chair of the Consortium Board and Head of the Global Health Institute at Merck represented the Consortium during the event.
The success story continues
Following the EDCTP feature, the Consortium was once again highlighted as a success story – this time by the European Commission.
The article includes an interview with Remco de Vrueh, Global Health portfolio co-lead at Lygature. In the interview, Remco explains the nature of schistosomiasis and the devastating impact it has on those infected, especially young children. He also explains the progress made to date with regard to the Consortium's mission to provide equitable access to an effective and safe pediatric treatment for the disease.
Lygature's role in the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium
The Consortium is an example of the Lygature mission to bring together public and private partners to make a meaningful contribution to alleviating disease burden. The project relies heavily on Lygature’s expertise in both management and science. In addition, Lygature provides communication and dissemination support.
The Consortium is financially supported by Merck; in-kind contributions from the Consortium’s partners; and grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2012), the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT) (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019 & 2021), and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) (2018 & 2021), under its second program supported by the European Union.