The world should aim to have vaccines which reduce malaria
cases by 75%, and are capable of eliminating malaria, licensed by 2030,
according to the updated 2013 "Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap",
launched today.
This new target comes in addition to the original 2006
Roadmap’s goal of having a licensed vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the most deadly form of the disease, for children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015.
“Safe, effective, affordable vaccines could play a critical
role in defeating malaria,” said Dr Robert D. Newman, Director of WHO’s
Global Malaria Programme. ”Despite all the recent progress countries
have made, and despite important innovations in diagnostics, drugs and
vector control, the global burden of malaria remains unacceptably high.”
Current situation
The most recent figures by the WHO indicate that malaria
causes an estimated 660 000 deaths each year from 219 million cases of
illness. Scale-up of WHO recommended malaria control measures has been
associated with a 26% reduction in the global malaria death rate over
the last decade. Effective malaria vaccines could be an important
complement to existing measures, if they can be successfully developed.
Final results from Phase III trials of the most advanced
vaccine candidate, RTS,S/AS01, will be available by 2015. Depending on
the final trial results, and depending on the outcome of the regulatory
review by the European Medicines Agency, a WHO recommendation for use
and subsequent prequalification of this first vaccine could occur in
late 2015.
The Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap
The new roadmap, launched today at the annual conference of
the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene in Washington DC
and also announced in a letter published in "The Lancet", aims to
identify where additional funding and activities will be particularly
key in developing second generation malaria vaccines both for protection
against malaria disease and for malaria elimination. These include
next-generation vaccines that target both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax species of malaria.
“The new vaccines should show at least 75% efficacy against
clinical malaria, be suitable for use in in all malaria-endemic areas,
and be licensed by 2030,” says Dr Jean-Marie Okwo Bele, Director of
WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. “The roadmap
also sets a target for malaria vaccines that reduce transmission of the
parasite.”
The 2013 "Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap" cites several
reasons for the update, among them changing malaria epidemiology
associated with the successful scale-up of malaria control measures in
the last decade; a renewed focus on malaria elimination and eradication
in addition to the ongoing need to sustain malaria control activities;
and new technological innovations since 2006 including promising early
work on so-called transmission-blocking malaria vaccines.
WHO lists 27 malaria vaccine candidates currently in clinical
trials, with most in early stages of testing; RTS,S/AS01 is the only one
currently in late-stage development.
The Roadmap’s vision centres on developing safe and effective vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax that prevent disease and death and prevent transmission to enable malaria eradication, and is built around two strategic goals:
- Development of malaria vaccines with protective efficacy of at least 75% against clinical malaria suitable for administration to appropriate at-risk groups in malaria-endemic areas.
- Development of malaria vaccines that reduce transmission of the parasite and thereby substantially reduce the incidence of human malaria infection. This will enable elimination in multiple settings. Vaccines to reduce transmission should be suitable for administration in mass campaigns.
The "Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap" is the result of a
consultative process led by WHO, which brought together the global
community of malaria vaccine researchers and product developers, and is
supported by an informally-organized group of malaria vaccine funders.
The Malaria Vaccine Funders Group comprises the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials
Partnership, the European Vaccine Initiative, the European Commission,
the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the US Agency for International
Development, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, the Wellcome Trust, and WHO.
This is an official press release issued by the World Health Organisation
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