WHO to support the review and use of online repository to improve treatment of difficult-to-treat infections
"The World Health Organization (WHO) is collaborating with the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) to assess the merits and use of CURE-ID1, a web-based application that could help clinicians share their experiences in managing difficult-to-treat infectious diseases.
The application allows clinicians to report on novel uses of existing drugs for infectious diseases that lack adequate treatment options, including neglected tropical diseases, emerging infectious threats and infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant organisms. CURE-ID captures their experiences in repurposing medicines approved for other conditions, for new indications or for treatment of new populations when faced with failure or lack of approved treatments.
When health care professionals directly input their clinical cases into the app, CURE-ID allows these real-world experiences to be organized and analyzed much faster, making it easier to spot promising new uses for existing drugs,” said Amy Abernethy, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner. “Our hope is that this app will serve as a connector among major treatment centers, academics, private practitioners, government facilities and other health care professionals from around the world and ultimately get treatments to patients faster.”
WHO recognizes that there are many infectious diseases that lack optimal treatment options.
The systematic collection of real-world experience through CURE-ID will provide a resource for others and create an opportunity to identify medicines that warrant systematic study to potentially support regulatory approval or WHO guidelines and national policies.
“We are excited about the possibilities CURE-ID offers and are working with the US FDA and experts from all WHO regions to improve its global use and understand better how it can be optimally used by practitioners facing challenging clinical situations,” said Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General. “This applies to both difficult to treat infections that prevail globally and difficult to treat infections of regional concern.”
Later this year, WHO, in collaboration with US FDA, is expected to hold an informal expert consultation to review the CURE-ID application and discuss the next steps in its development and a tentative roll-out date for stakeholders.
To download and use the CURE ID application, visit https://cure.ncats.io or download “CURE ID” from the App or Play Store.
