21st Century Treatments for Sustainable Elimination of Leishmaniasis – Part 2 (LeishNCE2)

Our vision is to improve substantially the treatment of leishmaniasis globally by developing effective, well-tolerated and affordable therapies.

The project will build on previous programme achievements by launching the clinical development of front-runner NCEs in endemic countries (Phase II studies in Asia and Africa), whilst progressing the remaining candidates through pre- clinical and/or Phase I development.

The most promising candidates will then be progressed towards Phase III clinical studies in adults and children, with industrial scale-up and registration in disease endemic regions.

The innovative leishmaniasis treatment(s), which may include combination therapies as well as monotherapies, will contribute to the sustainable elimination efforts against VL in Asia, as well as disease control in Africa and Latin America, and will contribute to control of CL worldwide.

Well- tolerated, oral treatments for use in primary care settings will reduce time between onset of symptoms and treatment, therefore reducing mortality, morbidity and breaking the cycle of transmission.

The new treatment(s) could also benefit patients presenting with complex forms of leishmaniasis, such as HIV/VL co-infected individuals, muco-cutaneous (MCL) and post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL).

The programme is in line with the updated World Health Organization (WHO) Roadmap for NTDs, calling for user-friendly, safe and highly efficacious treatments.