A new malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University in the UK is reported to be 80% effective in preventing infection. Exam results were announced on Thursday of lancet medical journal. Scientists say this is a major breakthrough with the potential to save millions of lives and ultimately eradicate the disease.
The vaccine, named R21/Matrix-M, had already shown encouraging trial results after three first doses.Maintaining immunity has always been a big challenge, and the latest studies show that boosters are effective, says Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford and co-author of the paper. the professor explained lancet paper.
“Development of this technology was complicated because protection against malaria requires a very strong antibody response, and like all responses, those antibodies diminish over time,” Hill said. told VOA.
“One of the concerns was that this was a short-term protection, lasting only a few months. With the data we’re publishing today, that’s not the case,” Hill said. The 80% efficacy in the second year of the study is very encouraging in that regard.”
The latest Phase II trial involved 450 children aged 5-17 months from the Nanoro region of Burkina Faso. The results show that the higher intensity booster dose was 80% effective in preventing malaria infection.No serious side effects were seen.
“This is the parasite we are trying to vaccinate against. It’s not a virus. It has thousands of genes. [So it’s] Designing a vaccine is complicated,” Hill said. So we are excited. ”
The Serum Institute of India, which produced billions of doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, produces the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine. It has signed a deal to rapidly scale up production if the vaccine receives approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) in the coming months.
“We’re trying to do something similar with malaria. We’re trying to make a low-cost vaccine — a few dollars a dose — and make it really premium, and we’re going to get over 100 million doses as soon as possible. I’m trying to make it available,” he told VOA.
Malaria killed an estimated 627,000 people in 2020, according to the most recent data available. The majority of them are children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.
WHO approved the first-ever malaria vaccine called RTS,S last October. But R21 may offer even greater hope, he said.
“A highly effective vaccine like this could save hundreds of thousands of lives annually and ultimately millions over the next decade or so,” he said. . “After the vaccine for the most vulnerable is rolled out, we will look at a vaccine for travelers, and then a vaccine that can actually eradicate this dreaded disease locally and eradicate it globally. ”
Results from an ongoing Phase III trial involving 4,800 children are expected later this year, with mass production and deployment expected to begin in 2023 following WHO approval.
