An new vaccine in development has shown positive results in paediatric trials against the malaria that is found in the developing world (RTS,S/ASO2A).
The study, published in the "The Lancet", shows the results of a vaccine, developed by GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) Biologics and tested amongst children between one and four years old for a period of six months in Mozambique.
This vaccine was first tested in adults in Belgium, Kenya, The Gambia, and the US. It has since been tested in children in The Gambia and Mozambique for a period of 6 months.
According to the study, vaccine efficacy against clinical malaria attacks was 30 percent. Efficacy against primary infection with Plasmodium (P.) falciparum was 45 percent, and efficacy against severe disease was 58 percent. P. falciparum is the parasite that causes the greatest number of cases of malaria in Africa.
However, researchers recognise that the vaccine will never achieve 100% effectiveness. The vaccine will now enter in the Phase 2 of the paediatric trial with market authorisation for this vaccine possible by 2010.
The trial is a collaborative effort involving public and private institutions from the US, Mozambique and Spain such as: GSK, Mozambique’s Ministry of Health (MOH) and Centro de Investigaçao em Saude de Manhiça (CISM), the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona, and PATH’s Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI).
The Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) was established through an initial grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).
