09:06 AM EDT, 07/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals ( SXTP ) said Friday that it had signed agreements with all three planned sites for its clinical trial of Tafenoquine as a treatment for relapsing babesiosis.

Tufts Medical Center, Yale University, and Rhode Island Hospital will test 24 to 33 babesiosis patients to evaluate tafenoquine's efficacy and safety, with interim results due in Q3 of next year.

60 Degrees' chief executive officer, Geoff Dow, said there are few effective treatment options for patients who reach the relapsing stage of babesiosis, a parasitic infection spread by deer ticks. It can be life-threatening for the elderly and immunosuppressed patients.

The company said Tafenoquine has already been approved in the US and Australia under various trade names for malaria prophylaxis, but it has not been proven to be effective for babesiosis treatment or prevention.

Shares of the company were up more than 90% in recent Friday premarket activity.

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