Treatment trial

The first clinical trial in West Africa to identify new and more effective drugs to treat Lassa fever

Starting off in the world’s largest Lassa fever treatment centers – the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) and the Federal Medical Center Owo (FMCO) – in Nigeria, INTEGRATE will establish a platform clinical trial to efficiently test new drug candidates in line with ethical and scientific standards.

This pioneering five-year study is coordinated by ALIMA and CORAL (Clinical and Operational Research Alliance) in collaboration with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), and the ISTH and FMCO.

The INTEGRATE treatment trial is funded by the European Union’s EDCTP3 programme under the sponsorship of ISTH, and with the French national medical research agency, ANRS-MIE as co-sponsor.

In addition to testing new treatments, INTEGRATE works with local communities to fight misinformation on clinical trials and destigmatize Lassa fever.

INTEGRATE also aims to strengthen the capacity of West African research and medical facilities to treat Lassa fever patients, and to initiate, plan, implement, and coordinate clinical trials and research on emerging infectious diseases by setting up and expanding laboratories, training materials, and workshops.

« The INTEGRATE consortium is particularly innovative because it allows for new treatment drugs to be added to the trial whenever they become available. This enables us to very efficiently identify the best drug that should then go forward in phase III to be then developed as a better treatment for Lassa fever. »

Pr. Michael Ramharter Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine – BNITM (Germany) and Principal Investigator, INTEGRATE

« By bringing together key research institutes and medical facilities, the implementation of INTEGRATE, the first-ever clinical trial platform in West Africa, will be critical in advancing our understanding and ability to treat and prevent Lassa fever. »

Dr. Marie Jaspard Coordinator – Emerging Infectious Diseases CORAL / ALIMA / Inserm and Principal Investigator of INTEGRATE