Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: CPIX) today announced that data supporting the efficacy of Caldolor in treating fever associated with falciparum malaria was published in the July edition of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The study, which is the first to document an antipyretic effect of an injectable non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) on fever caused by malaria, demonstrated that patients who received intravenous ibuprofen experienced a greater reduction in their temperatures than those who received placebo.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year worldwide and more than 1 million people die from it. Fever is one of the most common symptoms of the disease and many patients with severe malaria may deteriorate when their fever rises. Falciparum malaria is the most serious type of malaria and can be fatal within a few hours of the first symptoms. Currently, few options exist to treat fever in hospitalized patients who are unable to swallow or retain oral antipyretic therapy.
"Controlling fever and its associated symptoms is extremely critical in patients suffering from falciparum malaria," said Dr. David A. Warrell, Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford in the U.K., and lead author on the study. "Injectable ibuprofen provided rapid and well tolerated relief of fever for these patients and represents an especially important antipyretic treatment alternative for patients who are unable to take oral medicines."
The newly published data support findings from other previously published studies on the effectiveness of Caldolor® (ibuprofen) Injection for the treatment of both fever and pain. Designed for use in the hospital setting, Caldolor was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and launched by Cumberland in the United States in 2009. Caldolor is the first and only U.S.-approved injectable fever treatment and has been shown to significantly reduce pain and morphine use in the treatment of pain in adults.