Sigma-tau's Antimalarial Awarded "Project of the Year" 2011 by Medicines for Malaria Venture

NEW DELHI, November 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The project team for Eurartesim®, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PQP), the first novel chemical entity developed by Sigma-Tau was awarded Medicines for Malaria (MMV) Project of the Year 2011, the latter is a non-profit body with significant contribution from the Bill& Melinda Gates foundation. The award was presented in new Delhi during MMV's international stakeholder meeting.

Representatives of the Italian pharma group - Prof. Trevor Jones, Dr Marco Corsi & Dr Andreas Diedenhofen - accepted the prize and expressed satisfaction on behalf of the entire team for the achievement.

MMV established the "Project of the Year" award more than a decade ago to recognize the efforts of selected teams working to combat malaria worldwide. Winners are selected by MMV's Expert Scientific Advisory Committee, a group of world renowned experts in malaria and drug development.

Having received European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval in 2011, Eurartesim can now be used safely and effectively, and be deployed widely. The first shipment of 160,000 packages of Eurartesim to a malaria-endemic country were delivered to Cambodia in July this year, where it is hoped the medicine will help to delay the development of artemisinin drug resistance emerging in the region.

The drug is already available in Europe and has a series of advantages over other artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) given that it's easier to administer - once a day for three days- rather than other medicines which need to be taken twice a day. owing to the long half-life of piperaquine, Eurartesim® offers better and longer protection from new malaria infections.

Sigma-Tau Group

Sigma-Tau is a leading, all Italian capital, International pharmaceutical Group, founded in 1957, that invests in the research, development and marketing of innovative and effective treatments to improve human well-being and quality of life. Sigma-Tau Group has headquarters in Pomezia (Rome, Italy), and subsidiaries in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, UK, India, and with production plant in Italy as well as in Spain and US (Indianapolis); with about 2400 employees and an extensive network of licensees worldwide achieved a global turnover of € 663 million in 2011.

Website:http://www.sigma-tau.it

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