Description: Why malaria vaccine candidates have brought new hope and what went into their creation

Malaria vaccine candidates are promising in Phase 2b clinical trials and show high efficacy of 77%. The results of the trial were recently published in a preprint of The Lancet.

Previous version

A new vaccine candidate called R21 / Matrix M is a modified version of RTS, S. This is another candidate for malaria, which has been developed by the Walter Reed Institute of Research, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for over 30 years. PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

This vaccine is designed to prevent the Plasmodium falciparum Plasmodium falciparum from invading the liver and the subsequent deadly blood stages. It targets proteins in the liver stage of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle.

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Thirty years old, RTS, S is the first and only vaccine to reduce malaria in children. However, it is not very effective, according to Dr. VS Chauhan, a Rhodes scholar who works in the fields of genetic engineering and biotechnology and is known to have contributed to the development of recombinant malaria vaccines.

“It’s so ineffective that it’s not widely given. Research is ongoing and the new one is a modified version of the previous vaccine. This is a new hope, but still needs to be tested in Phase 3. There is, “says Dr. Chauhan.

New version

R21 / Matrix M was developed by scientists at Oxford University, the same location as AstraZeneca. COVID-19 The vaccine has been developed. They have been working on this version for nearly 6-7 years.

Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute and professor of vaccine science at Oxford University, said in a statement that he believed that the vaccine was the first to reach the WHO’s goal of at least 75% efficacy.

This vaccine was manufactured at the Serum Institute of India. The fact that the institute was chosen as the place of manufacture demonstrates its extraordinary ability to produce good quality, Chauhan said.

trial
Oxford and partner researchers reported on R21 findings during a 12-month follow-up of participants. A phase 2b study of 450 children in Burkina Faso found that the vaccine was safe with 77% efficacy during this period. The vaccine was launched on a trial basis in 2014-15. The two-dose study was divided into a high-dose study (3 shots) and a low-dose study, both showing 77% efficacy.

What’s next

Researchers working with SII and US vaccine maker Novavax (supplied adjuvant) have found massive safety and efficacy in 4,800 children aged 5 to 36 months in four African countries. We are now accepting applications for Phase 3 trials to evaluate. The SII states that it is confident that it will administer more than 200 million doses of the vaccine as soon as it is approved by the regulator.

Important reason

In 2019, an estimated 229 million malaria cases occurred in 87 countries, with 409,000 deaths related to malaria. Children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa account for about two-thirds of the world’s deaths.

Between 2000 and 2020, 24 countries reported zero cases of indigenous malaria for more than three years. This is a benchmark for World Health Organization (WHO) certification as a malaria-free country. Globally, 39 countries have achieved milestones.

According to the WHO, the estimated number of cases of malaria in India in 2019 was 5.6 million, compared to about 20 million in 2020. Estimates for the 2020 case (global, regional, national level) will be published later this year.

The· Pandemic Challenge

In 2020, COVID-19 emerged as a serious challenge to combat malaria around the world. WHO has called on countries to maintain essential health services, including malaria, while ensuring that communities and healthcare workers are protected from Covid-19 infection.

Approximately one-third of the world’s countries reported interruptions in malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services in the first quarter of 2021, according to the results of a new WHO survey. In many countries there are blockades and restrictions on the movement of people and goods. This has led to delays in the delivery of pesticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor pesticide spraying campaigns. Malaria diagnosis and treatment services were interrupted because many people were unable or unwilling to seek care in their health care facilities. On World Malaria Day (April 25), WHO called on all people living in malaria-affected countries to “defeat fear.”