The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a new vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, for the prevention of malaria in children. The recommendation follows advice from the WHO: Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) and was endorsed by the WHO Director-General following its regular biannual meeting held on 25-29 September.
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Demand for malaria vaccines is unprecedented; however, available supply of RTS,S is limited. 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 is a public health risk.
“As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Demand for the RTS,S vaccine far exceeds supply, so this second vaccine is a vital additional tool to protect more children faster, and to bring us closer to our vision of a malaria-free future.”
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, emphasized the importance of this recommendation for the continent, saying: “This second vaccine holds real potential to close the huge demand-and-supply gap. Delivered to scale and rolled out widely, the two vaccines can help bolster malaria prevention and control efforts and save hundreds of thousands of young lives in Africa from this deadly disease.”
The linked article details some features of the vaccine which may be of interest.
This is really exciting! Some more context and potentially relevant links:
From the article, about the R21 vaccine:
BBC coverage of the WHO news
“Each dose costs $2-4 (£1.65 to £3.30) and four doses are needed per person. That is about half the price of RTS,S. … The two vaccines use similar technologies and target the same stage of the malaria parasite’s lifecycle. However, the newer vaccine is easier to manufacture as it requires a smaller dose and uses a simpler adjuvant (a chemical given in the vaccine that jolts the immune system into action).”
Two earlier articles on R21/MM that I appreciated:
Vox: “The new malaria vaccine is a total game changer” and “We finally have malaria vaccines. The next hurdle: Distributing them.”
CBC: “A new malaria vaccine could be a ‘huge deal’ in the fight to save lives in Africa and abroad” (“Ghana and Nigeria approve R21/Matrix-M vaccine currently in Phase 3 trials, ahead of WHO review”)
I liked last month’s “Why we didn’t get a malaria vaccine sooner” in Works in Progress, which focused on the RTS,S vaccine. (“In sum, the RTS,S vaccine spent 23 years in 25 trials and pilot studies, before it was licensed” — see a summary in the recent EA Newsletter.)
Metaculus: Will global malaria mortality rates be reduced by 90% when compared with 2015 rates, by 2030?