chloroquine + azithromycin

This investigational combination of chloroquine and azithromycin was developed by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command in collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) for the weekly prophylaxis of malaria. Chloroquine is a traditional antimalarial that inhibits the biocrystallization of toxic heme into non-toxic hemozoin within the parasite's food vacuole. Azithromycin, a macrolide antibiotic, targets the 50S ribosomal subunit in the parasite's apicoplast, providing synergistic antimalarial activity. Despite the rationale for a weekly dosing regimen to improve compliance among military personnel, a Phase 2a controlled human malaria infection study (NCT03278808) conducted between 2018 and 2019 demonstrated poor efficacy against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains and a high incidence of gastrointestinal side effects, leading to the conclusion that the regimen is suboptimal for clinical use.

Other names

Chloroquine-AzithromycinChloroquine and Azithromycin for Malaria Prophylaxis