A Prospective Randomized Open-Label Study on the Efficacy and Safety of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp) With Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine (DP) Versus IPTp With Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) in Malawi (STOPMiP-MW)

Problem to be studied: Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) due to Plasmodium falciparum infection is a major cause of maternal morbidity and poor birth outcomes in malaria-endemic countries. Pregnant women are at increased risk of more frequent and severe malaria infections than non-pregnant women. Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), which involves administration of treatment doses of SP at each antenatal visit in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, at least one month apart, irrespective of malaria parasitemia, is currently recommended for all women, except HIV positive women taking daily cotrimoxazole prophylaxis, in areas with stable moderate to high transmission of malaria.

SP is the only drug currently used for IPTp. Due to increasing resistance to SP, it is no longer used as a treatment for symptomatic malaria, however, IPTp-SP remains effective even in areas where SP resistance in children under five (determined by in vivo efficacy studies) is up to 26%, and continues to be used for IPTp in countries where SP is no longer recommended to treat symptomatic malaria. However, IPTp-SP has become more controversial given recent data from northern Tanzania and Malawi that have demonstrated that at higher rates of resistance, IPTp-SP may no longer be effective.

Alternative drugs which could replace SP have been tested; mefloquine, azithromycin-chloroquine, and amodiaquine have been abandoned as options due to poor tolerability among pregnant women. Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine (DP) remains an attractive option because of the long half-life of piperaquine (PQ) and the demonstrated efficacy, safety, and tolerability in pregnancy. Recent studies in Kenya and Uganda using DP for IPTp demonstrated a significant reduction in the prevalence of malaria throughout pregnancy and at the time of delivery. However, there was not a clear benefit in terms of improved neonatal outcomes. Additional studies are therefore needed to determine the impact of switching from IPTp-SP to IPTp-DP.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03009526
Study Phase: Phase 3
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Prevention
 

Clinicaltrials.gov - Trial details

Drug-based Strategies
Impact of Interventions
Vulnerable Populations

Sep 2016 — Oct 2019

$400,000

Malawi

Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp)