Recent news
September 2010
Safe and effective malaria vaccine closer than ever, PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative announces at conference
September 30, 2010 --
Researchers are closer than ever before to successfully developing the first safe and effective malaria vaccine, representatives from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and other scientists said this week at the Malaria Vaccines for the World Conference in Washington, DC. According to MVI Director Christian Loucq, there has been "a lot of progress in the development of a malaria vaccine." Loucq said that the experimental RTS,S malaria vaccine has progressed to phase III trials, which will test its safety and effectiveness on a large scale. GlaxoSmithKline researcher Joe Cohen said that researchers hope the initial data from the phase III trials will come out in 2012, meaning that the first implementation of the vaccine in Africa could occur between 2015 and 2016. Both Loucq and Cohen also called for sustained investments in malaria vaccine research. "The financial crisis has had a big impact on the package of money that's available," Cohen said, adding, "Vaccines against other diseases that are ready to be implemented in Africa are being delayed because financing is not available.” Cohen noted that RTS,S distribution could also be delayed if funding for a wide-scale launch is not available after the vaccine has completed testing. See the links below for more details.
