First placebo-controlled study in adults with Chagas disease highlights urgent need to scale up treatment for millions of patients at risk

According to results of the first-ever Phase 2 clinical trial in Bolivia, conducted by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), the experimental drug candidate E1224 showed good safety and was effective at clearing the parasite that causes Chagas disease, but had little to no sustained efficacy one year after treatment as a single medication. On the other hand, standard therapy for Chagas, benznidazole, was shown to be effective in the long term but continued to be associated with side effects.