Serum Institute Rolls Out New Highly Effective Malaria Vaccine in Africa | Company News

A new highly potent malaria vaccine developed jointly by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Oxford University was formally launched on Monday, with West Africa's Côte d'Ivoire becoming the first country to start administering R21/Matrix-M.

The vaccine, approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) last year, underwent a rigorous regulatory process and clinical evaluation and was found to be highly effective and affordable. The low-dose vaccine can be produced quickly and at large scale, which is seen as crucial to halting the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

“Reducing the burden of malaria is finally within sight. Today's rollout of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine marks a milestone as the culmination of many years of great work with the University of Oxford and Novavax,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SII.

At Serum, we believe that access to affordable and basic disease prevention is everyone's right, which is why we are working to produce 100 million doses of R21, which will save millions of lives and reduce the burden of this deadly disease for future generations, he said.

In anticipation of the vaccine's availability, SII said it has already manufactured 25 million doses of the vaccine and plans to scale up production to 100 million doses per year. In line with its goal of supplying vaccines at scale and at low cost, the Pune-based company said it would offer the vaccine for less than $4 per dose.

The introduction of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine marks the beginning of a new era in malaria control interventions, with this highly potent vaccine now being made available at an affordable price and on a very large scale to many of the countries that need it most. Professor Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, said: “We hope that this vaccine will be made available as quickly as possible to all African countries that wish to use it.”

R21/Matrix-M was jointly developed by the university and SII, utilizing Novavax Inc.'s Matrix-M adjuvant technology. In December 2023, the WHO granted the vaccine prequalification status after trials demonstrated that the vaccine was well tolerated with a favorable safety profile, with the most frequent side effects being injection site pain and fever.

According to the Ivory Coast Ministry of Health, malaria-related deaths have fallen from 3,222 in 2017 to 1,316 in 2020, but the deadly disease still kills four people a day, most of them young children, and “remains the main cause of medical consultations.”

A total of 656,600 doses of the vaccine have been received, which will initially be used to vaccinate 250,000 children aged 0-23 months in 16 regions of Côte d'Ivoire. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is also approved in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

R21 is the second malaria vaccine available in sub-Saharan Africa after RTS,S, and widespread introduction of the malaria vaccine alongside existing prevention methods such as bed nets is expected to save tens of thousands of young people's lives each year. A total of 15 African countries are expected to introduce the malaria vaccine with Gavi support in 2024, and countries plan to vaccinate around 6.6 million children against malaria in 2024 and 2025.

Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said: “Africa has been hit by malaria for too long, but Côte d'Ivoire has been hit harder than almost any other country. Now, with two safe and effective vaccines available, along with other interventions, we can finally turn the tide against this deadly disease.”

Novavax President and CEO John Jacobs added: “The introduction of the R21/MatrixM malaria vaccine in Côte d'Ivoire marks a groundbreaking advancement in the fight to protect vulnerable children from malaria, a leading cause of death across the region, and reinforces our mission to develop innovative vaccines that improve public health.”

First Edition: July 15, 2024 | 11:49 PM teeth