This grant is part of the $22.6 million the Gates Foundation has granted to the University of North Carolina led consortium in 2006 to fund Phase III clinical trials using Immtech’s oral drug, pafuramidine maleate, to treat stage one of African sleeping sickness. The Gates Foundation has also made previous grants of $15.1 million and $2.8 million to the Consortium, of which Immtech is the drug development member.
Immtech is working with the consortium to develop pafuramidine as an oral treatment for African sleeping sickness and, if it is approved, pafuramidine will be the first oral drug ever developed to treat this disease.