Tafenoquine: A 2018 Novel FDA-Approved Prodrug for the Radical Cure of Plasmodium vivax Malaria and Prophylaxis of Malaria

Annie Mayence; Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde

doi:10.3390/ph12030115

Tafenoquine: A 2018 Novel FDA-Approved Prodrug for the Radical Cure of Plasmodium vivax Malaria and Prophylaxis of Malaria

Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2019 Jul 30;12(3):115. doi: 10.3390/ph12030115.

Authors

Annie Mayence¹, Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde²

Affiliations

¹ Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut-Condorcet, 7330 Saint-Ghislain, Belgium.
² Formerly head of the Department of Organic Chemistry (FS), University of Mons-UMONS, 7000 Mons, Belgium. jean-jacques.vandeneynde@ex.umons.ac.be.

Abstract

Tafenoquine (an 8-aminoquinoline) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018 for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria and preventive action against malaria. Despite the fact that the mechanism of action of the drug remains unclear, all studies indicated that a metabolite is responsible for its efficacy. Routes for the preparation of the drug are described.

Keywords: FDA; Plasmodium; aminoquinoline; approved drugs; hypnozoite; malaria.