Vivax Elimination With Tafenoquine (VET) Study (VET)

January 2, 2026 updated by: Shoklo Malaria Research Unit

Mass Drug Administration of Tafenoquine for P. Vivax Radical Cure: Safety and Feasibility Study

Theoretically, so long as there is a sink-source for malaria, transmission could be sustained at very low level (even at sub-microscopic oscillation) and reintroduce malaria either as sporadic cases or as resurgent outbreak. Uncertainty or shortage in financing has typically limited the malaria control or elimination projects to go further beyond the "Pre-elimination phase". Since malaria is no longer a top scoring mortality in national statistics in South East Asia, the governments/stakeholders are less willing to allocate from the austerity budget. There are proven evidence of resurgences after cessation of intervention programs where over 90% of all resurgence events were attributed to the interruption of malaria control programmes. In Karen state Myanmar-Thailand border, multiple factors including a cascade of political, financial, and logistical fiascos have compounded on the ongoing malaria elimination activities. Deleterious impacts after military coup since 2021 February including cessation of foreign investment, humanitarian aids, Civil Dis-obedience Movement of government staff and resuming armed-conflicts have strained the nearly failed health infrastructure of the country to a collapse stage. Interruption of the National Malaria Control activities due to the health system failure and accelerating combats countrywide could inevitably lead to the overturn in recently achieved malaria pre-elimination status especially in Karen state.

The disruption in health services within Myanmar is already resulting in an increase in malaria. Supply of the first line antimalarial drug artemether-lumefantrine, and other essential malaria control interventions, has been interrupted. The study is proposed to evaluate the impact of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in 3 villages in Karen state with consistently high incidence of P. vivax and spatially clustered within 5 km radius. This proposal outlines a study to assess the feasibility and the safety of tafenoquine MDA.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Malaria remains a major health concern in Myanmar, particularly in Karen State along the Myanmar-Thailand border, where disruptions in health services have led to a significant increase in cases. To address this, a study is proposed to assess the feasibility and safety of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) using tafenoquine, a single-dose treatment for P. vivax malaria, which has been approved in several countries, including Thailand. The study will focus on three high-incidence villages in Karen State, Myanmar, with a total population of around 1,000.

In this study, the entire village population will be screened for malaria using Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) and PCR, a highly sensitive method that detects parasites by copying and identifying their unique genetic material in blood samples. Participants who test positive for malaria by RDT will receive standard treatment. Additionally, all participants will be screened for their G6PD enzyme status and will receive tafenoquine if G6PD levels are above 6.0 units, or chloroquine prophylaxis if their enzyme levels are lower or if they are pregnant. Impact of MDA on reduction in malaria incidence by RDT and prevalence by PCR will also be evaluated as a secondary outcome of the study.

Participation is voluntary, and participants can withdraw at any time. They will receive full information about the study's risks and benefits before deciding whether to participate.

Risks:

According to previous research conducted both in this context and in other regions, tafenoquine and chloroquine are generally safe, with side effects usually being mild. The most common side effects are nausea and mild to moderate abdominal pain. A research team led by a medical doctor will be on hand to manage any side effects, and a referral system will be established in case of any serious adverse events.

Benefits:

If successful, the study could significantly reduce malaria cases in these villages. Additionally, it could provide valuable insights for implementing Tafenoquine MDA on a larger scale.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1242

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Thailand
    • Changwat Tak
      • Mae Sot, Changwat Tak, Thailand
        • Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All village residence, aged >6 months who agrees to participate in the research.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • People who refuse to participate
  • People who are hypersensitive to Tafenoquine or Chloroquine
  • Critically ill patient

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tafenoquine

Tafenoquine KODATEF® 100 mg film-coated tablets will be purchased from Biocelect (Suite 5.02, Level 5, 139 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 Australia).

Tafenoquine will be given as follows,

>10 kg to ≤ 20 kg - 150 mg (1 tab), >20 kg to ≤ 35 kg - 300 mg (2 tabs), > 35 kg - 450 mg (3 tabs)
Drug: Tafenoquine

Tafenoquine KODATEF® 100 mg film-coated tablets will be purchased from Biocelect (Suite 5.02, Level 5, 139 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 Australia).

Tafenoquine will be given as follows,

>10 kg to ≤ 20 kg - 150 mg (1 tab), >20 kg to ≤ 35 kg - 300 mg (2 tabs), > 35 kg - 450 mg (3 tabs)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) to assess safety and tolerability of Tafenoquine MDA
Time Frame: Baseline survey to end of Month-1 survey
Number of (serious) adverse events reported
Baseline survey to end of Month-1 survey

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To compare the incidence by Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) of P. vivax before and 1-3-6 months after providing the single round of MDA with Tafenoquine radical cure treatment
Time Frame: Month 1, 3 and 6
Malaria Incidence by RDT reported from malaria post at month 1, 3 and 6
Month 1, 3 and 6
To evaluate the adherence of healthcare workers to the SOP for implementing MDA of Tafenoquine.
Time Frame: Baseline survey and Month-1 survey
Proportion of village health workers adhere to the SOP for G6PD testing & documentation, tafenoquine administration and adverse event recording & reporting.
Baseline survey and Month-1 survey
To compare the prevalence by PCR of P. vivax before and a month after providing the single round of MDA.
Time Frame: Baseline survey and Month-1 survey
Difference in proportion positive to PCR positive before and a month after providing the single round of MDA.
Baseline survey and Month-1 survey

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Shoklo Malaria Research Unit

Collaborators

Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 19, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 4, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

October 4, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 2, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MAL24004

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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