Groundbreaking technology solutions and the power of partnership were critical factors in Astellas’ recent involvement to deliver lifesaving medication for young children worldwide.

突破性技术解决方案和合作伙伴关系的力量是安斯泰来近期参与为全球幼儿提供救命药物的关键因素。

Schistosomiasis is an infectious disease caused by a parasite, affecting more than 250 million people worldwide

血吸虫病是一种由寄生虫引起的传染病，影响全球超过2.5亿人。

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and prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly Africa, where people lack access to clean water.

在热带和亚热带地区，尤其是非洲，那里的人们缺乏获得清洁水的机会。

For more than a decade, members of the

十多年以来，成员们

Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium

儿科吡喹酮联盟

, 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

，安斯泰来制药集团是其贡献成员之一，该集团一直致力于为受此疾病影响的学龄前儿童开发治疗方案。得益于这一成功的合作，该联盟已经

now begun early-stage administration

现已开始早期管理

of this new treatment, marking a significant milestone in their efforts to address this need.

这种新疗法标志着他们在满足这一需求的努力中迈出了重要的里程碑。

Schistosomiasis – a Public Health Concern

血吸虫病——一个公共卫生问题

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.

世界卫生组织将血吸虫病列为 21 种被忽视的热带病之一，它因接触淡水中的寄生幼虫而引发，这些幼虫进入血管并侵袭内脏器官。如果不及时治疗，该病可能导致多种健康问题，甚至可能致命。

Until now, there was no suitable treatment specifically designed for the nearly 50 million preschool-aged children at risk of schistosomiasis

到目前为止，还没有专门针对近5000万学龄前儿童设计的适合的血吸虫病治疗方法。

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. 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 .

小儿吡喹酮联盟一直积极致力于解决这一问题，安斯泰来在药物开发的早期阶段贡献了其研究和技术专长。通过这些合作努力，已开发出一种150毫克的可分散片剂，可以溶解在水中。这项新治疗方案在2023年12月获得了欧洲药品管理局（EMA）的积极推荐。

the first administration began in Uganda, as announced in a press release in March 2025

第一次接种在乌干达开始，正如2025年3月新闻发布会上宣布的那样。

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。

Hiroyuki Kojima

小岛宏之

Senior Vice President, Head of Pharmaceutical Research & Technology Labs

高级副总裁，制药研究与技术实验室负责人

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..

安斯泰来制药研发与技术实验室高级副总裁、负责人小岛弘之从事药物科学领域工作三十余年，他表示这个项目是他职业生涯中最难忘的项目之一。在全球健康创新技术 (GHIT) 基金会发布的视频采访中，他分享了自己参与该项目的喜悦之情。该基金会支持了联合会在开发这种新疗法方面做出的努力。

“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.

“我真的很觉得自己作为一名药物研究员取得了成就，”他说。“我感到一种满足感，而且我学到了很多。

Drug development for young children was a new endeavour for Astellas at that time, and Hiroyuki described it like “starting out in the dark.”

当时，针对幼儿的药物开发对安斯泰来来说是一个新的领域，广裕将其描述为“在黑暗中摸索前行”。

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.

减小药片的尺寸和掩盖苦味对于这种新疗法的成功至关重要。在开发新药片的过程中，团队多次不得不从头开始，经历的失败远比成功多得多。

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..

该团队运用其技术专长开发了一种口腔崩解片，同时考虑了生产转移的可行性。由于不同人群的味觉差异，掩味涉及大量的试错。通过在研究中心巧妙结合他们的技术能力，团队最终取得了成功。

“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.”

“这对我们来说是一次很大的学习经历，”弘之说。“例如，作为候选配方开发的微小药丸，几个月大的婴儿服用时可能会意外走偏，卡在气管中，或者有窒息的风险。”

Partnering to Deliver Successful Outcomes

携手合作，实现成功成果

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.

与合作伙伴共同努力，朝着共同的目标前进并取得进展，是安斯泰来研究和联盟团队成功的关键因素。

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.

安斯泰来团队成员自愿参与并承诺为幼儿提供这一重要疗法。广由纪表示，尽管合作伙伴之间偶尔会出现意见分歧，但联合会的团队对项目的共同目标从未动摇。

“The common desire to deliver this medicine to African children was something that everyone involved agreed on,” he continued.

“所有参与人员都同意，共同的愿望是将这种药物送到非洲儿童手中，”他继续说道。

“It is a joy for us as pharmaceutical researchers to be able to make medicines using the technologies we have accumulated at our labs.”

“作为制药研究人员，能够利用我们在实验室积累的技术来制造药物，我们感到非常高兴。”

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..

制药开发领域常常失败远多于成功，弘之表示，但作为研究团队解决问题是让所有人保持一致的关键。他将技术、充满热情的团队成员以及所有相关人员的支持列为药物开发成功的三个关键因素。

“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.

“当有问题时，我们团队合作。当问题太难即使团队合作也解决不了时，我们会请周围的人帮忙，”他说。

“The support of the people around us, the management team, and our colleagues helped us to overcome the obstacles and led us to success.”

“我们周围的人们、管理团队和同事的支持帮助我们克服了障碍，取得了成功。”

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World Health Organization, 1 February 2023. Schistosomiasis Fact Sheet.

世界卫生组织，2023年2月1日。血吸虫病事实表。

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schistosomiasis

https://www.who.int/zh/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schistosomiasis

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Trends in Parasitology

寄生虫学趋势

(Volume 36, Issue 7, July 2020)

（第36卷，第7期，2020年7月）

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