GlaxoSmithKline Plc is scrapping two malaria drugs that may cause anaemia, dealing a blow to the global fight against the killer disease. Europe's biggest drugmaker said on Friday it was pulling Lapdap from the market in Kenya - the only place where it has recently been sold - and stopping development of a second experimental compound called Dacart.
Both medicines have been linked to reductions in haemoglobin levels in patients with a hereditary enzyme disorder that affects 10 to 25 percent of Africans. Low haemoglobin can lead to anaemia which in severe cases may require a blood transfusion.
Glaxo had been working on Dacart with the non-profit organisation Medicines for Malaria Venture and would have sold the product at concessionary prices had it been successful, so the setback is not significant commercially for the British-based group. Dacart is an artemisinin-based combination therapy, similar to Novartis AG's Coartem, which is currently the gold standard in malaria care.