PK/PD modelling of eflornithine: Assessment of an oral treatment for the fatal parasitic disease human African trypanosomiasis

Human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, is a fatal parasitic disease if not treated. It is a vector-borne disease endemic in countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Eflornithine is a drug used to treat gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (g-HAT) in the later disease stage, i.e., when the parasites have invaded the central nervous system. Eflornithine is currently dosed as a racemic mixture of D- and L-eflornithine via repeated intravenous infusions, which comes with several disadvantages in terms of both logistics and drug dosing in hospitals. In this talk, the potential for an oral eflornithine treatment are discussed with an outline that spans from lab-based in vitro efficacy studies via in vivo pharmacokinetic (PK) studies to clinical modelling & simulation where assessment for a potentially efficacious clinical dosing regimens for eflornithine are made with a modelling & simulation approach.