Paediatric HIV
Saving children’s lives by developing new treatments to meet their needs
Paediatric HIV
Saving children’s lives by developing new treatments to meet their needs
We developed an easy-to-administer, strawberry-flavoured combination of four antiretroviral medicines to meet the needs of young children, who are at the highest risk of dying without treatment. This new treatment was approved in South Africa in 2022 – the first country globally to grant regulatory approval for the 4-in-1 – followed by approvals in Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and the DRC.
The needs of children with HIV have long been neglected. While R&D efforts have succeeded in developing life-saving diagnosis and treatment innovations for adults, innovation for children has lagged far behind.
Until relatively recently, the only treatments available for babies and young children were bitter-tasting, difficult to dose, and required refrigeration – making them unsuitable for children and their caregivers. Thankfully, new paediatric formulations have become available after decades of poor options. Our work has been a key part of this revolution in paediatric HIV diagnosis and treatment, and we are carrying forward lessons from this progress for other diseases in our Innovation for Children Programme.
‘The initial treatment was difficult to administer because of their bitter taste. Many times, Emmanuel would spit the medication instead of swallowing.’
What we have achieved
Our research has helped countries replace older, difficult-to-use, and sometimes ineffective formulations and scale up new, optimum treatments for young children.
Paediatric HIV news & resources
Making medical history for neglected patients
We develop urgently needed treatments for neglected patients and ensure they’re affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who need them
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