This is really exciting! Some more context and potentially relevant links:
From the article, about the R21 vaccine:
High efficacy when given just before the high transmission season: In areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission (where malaria transmission is largely limited to 4 or 5 months per year), the R21 vaccine was shown to reduce symptomatic cases of malaria by 75% during the 12 months following a 3-dose series. A fourth dose given a year after the third maintained efficacy. This high efficacy is similar to the efficacy demonstrated when RTS,S is given seasonally.
Good efficacy when given in an age-based schedule: The vaccine showed good efficacy (66%) during the 12 months following the first 3 doses. A fourth dose a year after the third maintained efficacy.
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Cost effectiveness: At prices of US$ 2 – US$ 4 per dose, the cost-effectiveness of the R21 vaccine would be comparable with other recommended malaria interventions and other childhood vaccines.
“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:
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?