SUCCESS STORIES

MOZAMBIQUE: Malaria Vaccine Trials Show Promise in Children

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PROBLEM:

As malaria continues to kill more than one million people annually most of them sub-Saharan African children under five the international public health community urgently needs an effective vaccine to control the disease. Even a partially effective vaccine could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives a year.

SOLUTION:

The world's most promising malaria vaccine candidate is called "RTS,S." It is the first to convincingly show that it can protect children against infection and clinical disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite. The RTS,S vaccine was created in 1987. Its early development was undertaken by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals, the vaccine division of GSK, in close collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). In January 2001, GSK and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI)—with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—entered into an agreement to develop the vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Results of a trial started in 2003 in more than 2,000 children in southern Mozambique demonstrated the feasibility of a malaria vaccine in children. Results from this trial, published in 2004 and 2005 in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, showed that RTS,S was effective for at least 18 months in reducing clinical malaria by 35% and severe malaria by 49%. These results established RTS,S as the most advanced malaria vaccine candidate.

Based on the successful trials in Mozambique, GSK and MVI are conducting several small-scale trials in infants and young children, the groups most vulnerable to malaria that would benefit most from an effective malaria vaccine. Working with in-country research institutions, a series of clinical trials are ongoing in partner African countries, including Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Senegal

LESSONS LEARNED:

If these ongoing trials are successful, the partners will proceed to a large-scale Phase 3 clinical trial to determine the efficacy of the vaccine in the same age group. If all goes well, the RTS,S vaccine could be licensed as early as 2011. Partners are already beginning to work with governments to determine demand and to develop policies and systems for a future malaria vaccine. Among all malaria vaccine candidates, RTS,S shows the most promise in fighting this deadly infectious disease.

Source:

www.malariavaccine.org

For further information contact:

Yvette Collymore
ycollymore@malariavaccine.org

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