India, July 8 -- Novartis Pharma AG, affiliated to Swiss drug major Novartis AG (NVS), announced Tuesday that Coartem (artemether-lumefantrine) Baby has been approved by Swissmedic as the first malaria medicine for newborns and young infants.
The company added that eight African countries also participated in the assessment and are now expected to issue rapid approvals under the Swiss agency's Marketing Authorization for Global Health Products procedure.
Novartis plans to introduce the infant-friendly treatment on a largely not-for-profit basis to increase access in areas where malaria, a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite and spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes, is endemic.
The new treatment, also known as Riamet Bab...