By Marie Rosenthal, MS
The FDA Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee voted to recommend approval of tafenoquine (Krintafel, GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]) for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax infections in patients aged 16 years and older.
If approved, tafenoquine would be the first new medication for the prevention of relapse of P. vivax malaria in more than 60 years. And since only one dose would be needed, instead of 14 days of treatment with the current drug, primaquine, it would be a game