Addressing Global Health Challenges
Groundbreaking technology solutions and the power of partnership were critical factors in Astellas’ recent involvement to deliver lifesaving medication for young children worldwide.
Schistosomiasis is an infectious disease caused by a parasite, affecting more than 250 million people worldwide1 and prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly Africa, where people lack access to clean water.
For more than a decade, members of the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium, which Astellas is a contributing member of, have been partnering to develop a treatment option for preschool-aged children affected by this disease. Thanks to this successful collaboration, the Consortium has now begun early-stage administration of this new treatment, marking a significant milestone in their efforts to address this need.
Schistosomiasis – a Public Health Concern
Classified as one of the 21 neglected tropical diseases by the World Health Organization, schistosomiasis is caused by contact with parasitic larvae in freshwater which enter blood vessels and attack internal organs. Left untreated, it can lead to numerous health issues and even be fatal.
Until now, there was no suitable treatment specifically designed for the nearly 50 million preschool-aged children at risk of schistosomiasis 2. The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium has been actively working to address this gap, with Astellas contributing its research and technology expertise during the early stages of drug development. As a result of these collaborative efforts, a 150 mg dispersible tablet has been developed, which can be dissolved in water This new treatment received a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in December 2023, and the first administration began in Uganda, as announced in a press release in March 2025.
Hiroyuki Kojima
Senior Vice President, Head of Pharmaceutical Research & Technology Labs
Hiroyuki Kojima, Senior Vice President, Head of Pharmaceutical Research & Technology Labs at Astellas, has worked in pharmaceutical science for more than three decades and said this project was one of the most memorable of his career. In a video interview with the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund, which supported the Consortium's efforts in developing this new treatment, he shared his joy at being part of this project.
“I really feel like I accomplished something as a pharmaceutical researcher,” he said. “I feel a sense of fulfilment and that I learned a lot.
Drug development for young children was a new endeavour for Astellas at that time, and Hiroyuki described it like “starting out in the dark.”
Reducing the size of the tablet and masking the bitter taste were crucial for the success of the new treatment. There were many times the teams had to return to square one while developing the new tablets, with many more failures than successes.
The team applied their technology expertise to develop an oral disintegration tablet, whilst also considering the feasibility of manufacturing transfer. Taste masking involved extensive trial and error due to varying sense of taste across populations. By skilfully combining their technical capabilities in their research center, the team ultimately achieved success.
“It was a big learning experience for us,” Hiroyuki said. “For example, tiny pills, which had been developed as a candidate formulation, can accidentally go down the wrong way and get stuck in the windpipe when babies a few months old take them, or there is a risk of choking on them.”
Partnering to Deliver Successful Outcomes
Working together with partners towards a shared goal and making progress was a critical component in the success of Astellas’ research and the Consortium’s teams.
Astellas team members were assigned on a voluntary basis with a commitment to deliver this important treatment for young children. Despite occasional differences of opinions between partners, the Consortium’s teams never wavered in their commitment to the project’s shared goal, Hiroyuki said.
“The common desire to deliver this medicine to African children was something that everyone involved agreed on,” he continued.
“It is a joy for us as pharmaceutical researchers to be able to make medicines using the technologies we have accumulated at our labs.”
The field of pharmaceutical development often has far more failures than success, Hiroyuki said, but solving problems as a research team is what kept everyone aligned. He credited technology, passionate team members, and the support of all those involved as three key factors in the drug development’s success.
“When there is a problem, we work as a team. When the problem is too difficult to solve even as a team, we involve the people around us,” he said.
“The support of the people around us, the management team, and our colleagues helped us to overcome the obstacles and led us to success.”
1 World Health Organization, 1 February 2023. Schistosomiasis Fact Sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schistosomiasis
2 Trends in Parasitology (Volume 36, Issue 7, July 2020)
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