This vaccine, developed by scientists from the University of Oxford, could lead to a decrease of 70 % of deaths by 2030.
Le Monde with AFP
A dose of recall of a new antimalarial vaccine maintains a high level of protection against the disease, assured an international research team, Thursday September 8 in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, aroused the hope that this cheap vaccine can be produced on a large scale in a few years. This vaccine, developed by scientists from the University of Oxford, could represent a turning point in the fight against the disease, the researchers said. Malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, killed 627,000 people – mainly African children – during the year 2020.
Last year, another vaccine, produced by the British pharmaceutical giant GSK, has become the first antimalarial vaccine to be recommended for general use by the World Health Organization (WHO). It has since been administered to more than a million children in Africa. But research has shown that the effectiveness of the GSK vaccine was around 60 % and decreased considerably over time, even with a dose of recall. Oxford R21/Matrix-M vaccine turned out to be 77 % effective to prevent malaria, according to a study published last year. This is the first time that a vaccine has exceeded the objective of efficiency set by WHO at 75 %.
For the study, 450 children aged 5 to 17 months in Burkina Faso – where malaria represents around 22 % of all deaths – received three doses in 2019. They were divided into three groups: two have received different doses of the Matrix-M adjuvant, a vaccination ingredient patented by Novavax and also used in the COVVI-19 vaccine of the American biotechnology company; The third control group received a rabies vaccine.
Before the rainy season of 2020 (when malaria cases increase), 409 children returned to receive a recall injection. For the group that received the highest dose of adjuvant, the effectiveness of the vaccine increased to 80 %, according to the results of a phase 2 trial published Thursday. For the lowest dose, efficiency was 70 %. Above all, a month after receiving the recall, the antimalarial antibodies found a level similar to that observed after the first doses received a year earlier, according to the study.
200 million doses per year
“It’s fantastic to see such high efficiency after a unique dose of recall”, welcomed one of the study authors, Halidou Tinto, of the Burkina Faso Health Research Institute (IRSS). Tinto, who participated in the two antimalarial vaccines, said that the GSK vaccine had an optimal efficiency of around 60 %. “I can therefore confirm that R21 [the Oxford vaccine] is much more effective,” he said at a press conference.
“We could consider a very substantial reduction in this horrible burden that is malaria, a drop in deaths and patients in the years to come, certainly by 2030”, said Adrian Hill, Specialist in vaccines in Oxford and co-author of the study. According to him, a decrease of 70 % of deaths due to malaria could be achievable within this period, partly thanks to the large number of doses of vaccine which could be produced quickly.
Oxford has teamed up with the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, the Serum Institute of India. The latter “wishes and is able to manufacture 200 million doses per year from next year,” said Mr. Hill. The 6 to 10 million doses that GSK can produce per year are “not sufficient for 40 million children who need four doses in the first year,” he said. And the Oxford vaccine would probably cost a few dose dose, less than half of the $ 9 for the GSK version, he added.
The results of a phase 3 test involving 4,800 participants in four countries are expected later this year, which could potentially lead to the approval of the vaccine.