The pill, known as ASAQ, is a combination of two drugs already known to be effective against malaria, artesunate and amodiaquine.
As well as being affordable the pill is easy to administer and will be more effective than older treatments that many people have built up resistance to. Patients often had to take a number of pills in one day to protect against the disease previously.
Sanofi has also decided not to patent the drug so that generic copies can be manufactured which also has the potential to make access to the drug easier. Sanofi said they would not make a profit on the drug.
The drug has already been registered in Morocco, and has been approved in 10 other African countries.