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The World Health Organization has approved a malaria vaccine produced by the University of Oxford that shows sustained protection in children, marking a turning point in the treatment of the disease.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the health agency recommended widespread use of a second vaccine to prevent malaria in children.
“As a malaria researcher, I once dreamed that one day we would develop a safe and effective malaria vaccine,” Tedros said. “Now we have two.”
this R21/Matrix-M Approval A highly effective injection has been added to the treatment regimen for malaria. The World Health Organization recommends RTS,S/AS01, produced by GlaxoSmithKline, for widespread use in 2021, and Tedros said the vaccine showed similar efficacy to the Oxford vaccine.
The latest vaccine will now be rolled out widely in sub-Saharan African countries, where children are most at risk of contracting malaria. The University of Oxford has a manufacturing agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Tedros estimated the vaccine would cost $2 to $4 per injection, which he called “comparable to other malaria interventions and other childhood vaccines.”
The decision to approve the drug was based on the advice of the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and its Malaria Policy Advisory Group.
They reviewed evidence showing the jab reduced symptomatic cases by 75% in the year after three doses, with the fourth dose shown to maintain protection.
The injection uses an adjuvant produced by US drugmaker Novavax to improve its effectiveness by enhancing the body’s immune response. Ghanaian regulators first approved the vaccine earlier this year.
Malaria, caused by a mosquito-borne parasite, remains a major global health threat, particularly in Africa, with more than 600,000 global deaths in 2021, 96% of which occurred in Africa.
Children under five account for four-fifths of malaria deaths in the region. The disease is both preventable and curable, but more than 240 million cases were recorded globally in 2021.
R21 targets the parasite in its early stages just after it comes into contact with the human body. A study published last year showed that the R21 vaccine booster dose was 80% effective.
Experts say supply of R2 is likely to be larger due to Oxford’s production arrangement with SII.
“The demand for malaria vaccines is unprecedented; however, available supplies of RTS,S are limited,” the World Health Organization said on Monday. “The addition of R21 to the list of WHO-recommended malaria vaccines is expected to result in sufficient vaccine supply to benefit all children living in areas where malaria poses a public health risk.”
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