Novartis launches Coartem Dispersible

Swiss drug major Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture have launched of Coartem Dispersible, a new pediatric formulation of Coartem  (artemether/lumefantrine 20mg/120mg), for the treatment of uncomplicated  malaria in infants and children.

Coartem Dispersible contains the same amounts of artemether and  lumefantrine as Coartem, the leading artemisinin-based combination  therapy in Africa, and is the first dispersible fixed-dose ACT  developed especially for children.

Each year there are more than one million malaria-related deaths around  the world. In Africa alone, a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria.  Until now, many parents crushed bitter-tasting anti-malarial tablets for  their children to swallow. The new sweet-tasting Coartem Dispersible  tablets disperse quickly in small amounts of water, easing  administration and ensuring effective dosing for children.