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Author: Geoffrey Dow

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) is a nonprofit, international, multidisciplinary medical society dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other complex inflammatory diseases. With these educational blog posts from experts and members of our board, ILADS aims to promote awareness and understanding of health and wellness, especially as it relates to complex inflammatory diseases, so that we can all learn and grow together. If you have any questions or want more information, you can email us at contact@ilads.org. 

Disclaimer: Every patient is an individual with unique characteristics. This blog article is not medical advice. It does not constitute a physician-patient relationship. It is for educational purposes only. Do not try out what is in this article without medical advice, working with your licensed physician and licensed healthcare providers

Long before this work became my profession, it was something I felt personally connected to.

As a child, I spent a lot of time in tropical countries, and later built a career out of developing drugs for tropical diseases. It was that background that helped shape my understanding of the urgent, and largely unmet, need for better therapeutics in these regions. It is also what inspired me to found 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, nearly 15 years ago, in 2010. 

Since day one, our focus has been on improving and extending lives by developing best-in-class medications to treat and prevent infectious diseases like malaria and dengue fever, of which the impact is staggering. Malaria continues to cause more than 627,000 deaths annually, with over 125 million people traveling to malaria-endemic regions each year. Dengue fever poses a similarly urgent threat, with an estimated 390 million infections globally every year. Despite the huge public health impact, treatment options remain limited and often outdated.

Our first commercial product, generic name tafenoquine, was approved by the FDA in 2018 for the prevention of malaria. For our team, it represented a meaningful step forward for us—finally, we could provide an exciting alternative to existing malaria prevention products. We developed tafenoquine with both endemic populations and travelers in mind, and it continues to address a critical need in global health.

It was some time after its approval that we began hearing anecdotal reports about tafenoquine being used to manage babesiosis.

As we investigated more closely, the connection made sense. Both Babesia and malaria parasites invade red blood cells, and tafenoquine’s known mechanism—inducing oxidative stress against the parastie—appears to be effective against both. Not only is the scientific literature on this compelling, but preclinical studies have consistently shown that multiple doses of tafenoquine, used alone or in combination, can clear Babesia parasites in animal models. In some cases, the result has even been a sterile cure.

Anecdotal case reports seem to back this up. In one case series, a weekly regimen of tafenoquine combined with standard-of-care drugs achieved an 80% cure rate in immunosuppressed patients suffering from chronic babesiosis. 

However, anecdotal success is only a starting point. To gain regulatory approval—and get this in the hands of the patients who need it most—we need rigorous, well-controlled clinical data.

Which brings us to now. We are launching a clinical trial to test the success stories we’ve heard. The goal is to determine whether a three-month regimen of tafenoquine can relieve fatigue and eradicate Babesia infection in patients with chronic babesiosis. We’re also evaluating how many participants test positive using a highly sensitive, FDA-approved blood screening test—hundreds of times more sensitive than typical molecular tests.

As we prepare to open enrollment, we wanted to do something different—which is why we’re inviting the public to help name the study. It’s a small but meaningful way to drive interest, but more importantly, remind patients that all this research is being done with them in mind.

Our hope is to validate the lived experiences of patients with data—and eventually to update Arakoda’s label to include babesiosis. This is just one way that we know we can contribute meaningfully to patient care.

As we grow, our mission remains the same: to apply our scientific curiosity, drug development expertise, and passion for global health to create better options for patients—whether they’re battling malaria, babesiosis, or the next emerging infectious threat.

If you’re interested in helping us name the study, we’d love your input. You can participate by following this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM7ynWB8P1BeS2QctzrtApyw8sIIxeIV5zYQV-_fuOvQZgpA/viewform?usp=sharing

Posted in Lyme Awareness