New malaria vaccine found effective in adults
pharmafile | May 8, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Oxford, Plasmodium falciparum, Vaccine, malaria
A new malaria vaccine has shown promise in early stage trials, reducing the risk of contracting the disease by two thirds.
The vaccine was developed at Oxford University and targets Plasmodium falciparum – the most dangerous parasite that causes the disease. It uses two different viruses that were genetically altered to produce a protein found on the surface of the malaria parasite.
It was found to have an efficacy of 67% when administered to 121 Kenyan adult men in a study published in Science Translational Medicine today.
However, the researchers have cautioned that it is too early to tell whether this success would be able to transition to field use – malaria transmission levels were ‘unexpectedly low’ at the time of the trial, and they still do not know how effective the vaccine will be in children, the group that would benefit the most from inoculation.
“This research was carried out in a group of adults, when the disease burden is actually in children,” Professor Chris Drakeley, from the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine malaria centre, tells the BBC. “We also found initially high levels of protection in similar early trials in adults.
“There is no one magic bullet approach. We need a multiple approach, and countries need a tool box of options to fight against the disease.”
It is also unclear whether the vaccine is effective against all varieties of Plasmodium falciparum. The researchers are now testing the vaccine in children and babies in Burkina Faso.
Around 1,300 children die of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa every day. There were 198 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2013 and about 584,000 related deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
A vaccine is desperately needed, but development of one has been slow. Other areas of treatment have shown more progress recently, however.
Merck Serono has signed a deal to develop antimalarial drugs with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), and it has also been suggested that a new smartphone app used to detect blood parasites could be adapted to help treatment of the disease.
However, researchers have also warned that resistance to one of the most effective anti-malarial drugs Qinghaosu (artemisinin), is spreading.
George Underwood
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