First Malarial Vaccine to Achieve the WHO Goal of 75% Efficacy

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their collaborators released the results of a phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, that demonstrated 77% efficacy over 12 months of follow-up with no adverse and/or side effects. In an update to the Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, WHO called for the creation of malaria vaccine candidates with protective efficacy of at least 75% against clinical malaria by 2030, to resolve this unmet public health need. This criterion met by the vaccine R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated 77% efficacy.

R21 is a pre-erythrocytic malaria vaccine candidate. In this vaccine, hepatitis B surface antigen 113 (HBsAg) is fused to the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium falciparum, which self-assembles into virus-like particles in yeast. Matrix-M, a saponin-based adjuvant, was chosen for its high immunogenicity based on pre-clinical…