Partners and funders of the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium gathered in Utrecht in February for the final consortium meeting, marking an important milestone in more than a decade of collaboration.

Today, 30 January, marks World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day, a global awareness day to recognize progress, renew commitment, and accelerate action to end NTDs.

The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium has been nominated for the 2025 Prix Galien Bridges Award in the Public Sector Innovation category. The Prix Galien Awards, often regarded as the “Nobel Prize for biopharmaceutical research,” recognize outstanding achievements that improve human health through scientific innovation.

Last week, the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium convened in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for a two-day face-to-face meeting hosted by the Ministry of Health, Côte d’Ivoire and Consortium coordinating partner, Lygature.

The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium has achieved a significant milestone with the first administration of its new pediatric treatment to a preschool-aged child in Uganda.

Today, 30 January, on World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls upon the global community to unite, act and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Two Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium partners, Merck and the Instituto de Tecnologia em Fármacos (Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz) in Brazil, have announced in a local Press Release that their collaboration is leading to Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz becoming the first global producer of the Consortium’s new pediatric treatment option for schistosomiasis in preschool-aged children, between 3 months and 6 years

Following the positive scientific opinion by the European Medicines Agency in December 2023 of our new pediatric treatment option for preschool-aged children with schistosomia

Today, 30 January, marks World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, one of 11 Global Health Days recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium is proud to announce a new milestone: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive scientific opinion of our new pediatric treatment option for preschool-aged children with schistosomiasis. 

In December 2022, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) validated for review our regulatory application for the potential new pediatric treatment option for schistosomiasis.

Together with local stakeholders, the ADOPT program is developing an implementation approach tailored to local conditions in endemic countries for introducing our potential new pediatric treatment for schistosomiasis, once approved.

It’s been a busy period of meetings over the last couple of months, with the Consortium bringing together partners, collaborators, and key external stakeholders to strengthen relationships and explore new ways of working. We look back at the key events to date and their outcomes.

Early childhood, the period from birth to age 8, is recognized as a critical phase of intense physical and cognitive growth. Infants and children facing health challenges during this time may suffer detrimental and long-lasting health consequences.

On this year’s International Day of the African Child, marked annually on 16 June, we draw attention to the fact that schistosomiasis poses a major child health development challenge. We also reinforce our commitment to providing an early childhood intervention for this preventable and treatable neglected tropical disease (NTD) most commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa.