Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium

About the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium

Praziquantel (PZQ), the gold standard treatment for schistosomiasis, is currently available in large oral tablets that are suitable only for adults and school-aged children. Due to the size of the tablet, its bitter taste, and a lack of clinical data, an appropriate treatment for very young children does not exist. The consortium addresses this issue and has developed a new orally disintegrating PZQ formulation known as arpraziquantel. With the full clinical development phase successfully completed in 2021, the program has entered the regulatory filing stage, while preparing for the potential delivery of arpraziquantel through the consortium’s dedicated access program, ADOPT. The consortium is supported by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2013, the Global Health Initiative Technology Fund in 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. Visit the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium website for more information about the program.

Bridging industry interests and societal needs

Lygature helped to set up the consortium and fulfills an independent ‘broker’ role, a key ingredient of successful public-private development partnerships. Reflecting the consortium’s position at the crossroad between industry and society, the contributions being made by Lygature from January 2016 include: 

• Coordination and governance. As consortium coordinator, Lygature provides necessary governance in terms of monitoring progress, finance, IP management, and collaborations. In addition, it successfully takes the lead in fundraising to support the Development and Access programs (current total value: EUR 5m).  
   
• Communication and dissemination . Lygature pro-actively coordinates the engagement with key stakeholders to share the consortium’s ambition to make a meaningful contribution to tropical medicine and health innovation in endemic countries. Responsibilities include (but are not limited to): presenting at (inter)national conferences; writing of (scientific) articles and news items; and development of the consortium’s communication strategy, website, and visual identity and social media management. 

The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium is an example of the Lygature mission to bring together public and private partners, and so to make a meaningful contribution to global health. The project relies heavily on Lygature’s expertise in both management and science. In addition, Lygature has helped to ensure that each partner’s needs, interests, and objectives are met.

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