US-12616196-B2 - Long protection mosquito repellent ointment

Abstract

The invention relates to an ointment comprising shea butter, petrolatum, beeswax, perfume and 10 to 20% by weight of DEET based on the total weight of the ointment, providing a protection against mosquitoes for at least 7 hours, its uses as a mosquito repellent and for the prevention of diseases such as malaria, and its manufacturing process.

Inventors

• Gérard NIYONDIKO
• Franck LANGEVIN

Assignees

• MAIA AFRICA SAS

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20191217

Claims (10)

1. 1 . A mosquito-repellent ointment for application to human skin, comprising petrolatum, shea butter, oil, beeswax, 0.5 to 2% by weight of perfume and from 10 to 20% by weight of DEET based on the total weight of the ointment, wherein the mosquito-repellent ointment is monophasic and provides a protection against mosquitoes for at least 7 hours.
2. 2 . The mosquito-repellent ointment according to claim 1 providing protection against mosquitoes for about 8 to 10 hours.
3. 3 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising between 25 to 65% by weight of petrolatum based on the total weight of the ointment.
4. 4 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising between 10 to 45% by weight of shea butter based on the total weight of the ointment.
5. 5 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising between 1 to 5% by weight of beeswax based on the total weight of the ointment.
6. 6 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising 0.5% by weight of perfume based on the total weight of the composition.
7. 7 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising between 1 to 10% by weight of oil based on the total weight of the ointment.
8. 8 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 wherein the oil is chosen amongst vegetal oils, mineral oils or their combination.
9. 9 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 8 wherein the oil is cotton seed oil.
10. 10 . The mosquito-repellent according to claim 1 comprising 47% by weight of petrolatum, 30% by weight of shea butter, 15% by weight DEET, 4.5% by weight of cotton seed oil, 3% by weight of beeswax, 0.5% by weight of perfume based on the total weight of the ointment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a § 371 national stage entry of International Application No. PCT/IB2019/060888, filed Dec. 17, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention concerns a mosquito repellent ointment that provides more than 7 hours of protection against mosquitoes. Such ointment is particularly useful for preventing mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever, preferably malaria. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND Mosquitoes are among the most dangerous animals in the world in terms of the number of deaths they cause. Their ability to carry diseases and transmit them to humans causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Malaria is a fatal disease caused by parasites belonging to the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. According to the WHO, malaria causes around one million victims per year worldwide. About 40% of the world's population is exposed to the disease and 500 million clinical cases are observed each year. The situation is all the more critical as parasites develop resistance to antimalarial molecules and mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to insecticides. To date, there is no vaccine available on the market to protect against this disease. Four species of parasites of the genus Plasmodium are responsible for the disease in humans: (i) Plasmodium falciparum is the most pathogenic species and is responsible for fatal cases. It occurs in tropical areas of Africa, Latin America and Asia, and is the dominant species in Africa;(ii) Plasmodium vivax co-exists with Plasmodium falciparum in many parts of the world, and is present in some temperate regions;(iii) Plasmodium oval, mainly found in West Africa, does not kill but can cause relapses 4 to 5 years after the first infection; and(iv) Plasmodium malariae has a very uneven global distribution. It is not fatal but can lead to relapses up to 20 years after the first infection. There are preventive treatments against malaria such as atovaquine, proguanil, chloroquine, mefloquine, doxycylcin and their combinations. However, the side effects of these treatments are important and can have serious consequences, such as mefloquine, which has significant neurological side effects that led to its prohibition in some countries. Moreover, none of these treatments can be taken for life. Their price is also far too high for local populations. Non-drug protection measures such as the use of impregnated mosquito nets, insecticides and mosquito repellents can also be used. However, treated nets are often too expensive for most-at-risk populations. Mosquitoes are more resistant to insecticides, so they do not provide effective protection. In addition, mosquitoes have changed their behavior in response to the massive use of insecticide. A study conducted in Papua New Guinea showed a shift in mosquito biting from night to earlier hours in the evening after a nationwide distribution of Long-Lasting Insecticide-treated Nets (LLINs). Similar changes in the behavior of Anopheles funestus have been observed in Benin and Senegal after insecticide treated nets achieved universal coverage. Furthermore, studies have described that the scaling up in LLINs and IRS have also led to most outdoor biting in the Anopheles gambiae s.l. commonly known as endophagic. A recent study in the Cascades region showed that more than 50% of the major vectors, An. gambiae s.l., were collected biting outdoor. The outdoor, early evening and morning biting habits of Anopheles combined with resistance to insecticides showed that the mass distribution of insecticide treated nets alone eventually leads to a reduction in the efficacy of this intervention. A recent study on the thermal ecology of malaria transmission and the potential impact of behavioral resistance notes that an increase in early evening biting could increase transmission not only because people are unprotected by nets, but also because there is a higher chance of malaria vectors becoming infectious. The development of new vector control tools in addition to LLINs is necessary to protect people whenever they are not under a net. Another parameter to be taken into account is the acceptability of the product by local populations. Repellent sprays are not in the habits of local populations and are often too expensive. Indeed, a large quantity must be sprayed to allow a homogeneous protection of the individual. In addition, current repellents only provide 5 hours of protection from the time of application, which means that they must be applied regularly and that, even if the repellent is applied at bedtime, it is not possible to be protected during the whole period of sleep. A repellent ointment marketed by the inventors under the brand name MAIA® comprises 61% by weight of shea butter, 13% of petrolatum, 4.5% of sunflo