Army Antimalarial Drug Development: An Advanced Development Case Study for Tafenoquine

Malaria is classified as a top-tier infectious disease threat associated with a high risk for mortality among U.S. service members deployed overseas. As malarial drug resistance degrades the efficacy of current gold standard drugs for malarial prophylaxis and treatment, it is vitally important to maintain a robust drug pipeline to discover and develop improved, next-generation antimalarial prevention and treatment tools. The U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) manages the medical product development of the malarial drug tafenoquine for malarial prophylaxis to address the threat to U.S. service members. Tafenoquine is an effective prophylactic drug against all parasite life cycle stages and all malaria species that infect humans. Thus, it provides broad capabilities in a single drug for malarial prophylaxis and treatment. Partnerships with industry are a crucial part of USAMMDA's medical product development strategy, by leveraging their drug development experience and manufacturing capabilities to achieve licensure and commercial availability. Additionally, these partnerships capitalize on expertise in the commercial market and help ensure that USAMMDA successfully translates a Department of Defense capability gap into a commercially available product. This article will highlight the strategies used to move this critical antimalarial drug through the development pipeline.