The World Health Organization (WHO)has on Monday recommended a new vaccine – R21/Matrix-M – developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India for the prevention of malaria in children.
The recommendation follows the advice of the WHO: Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) and endorsed by the WHO Director-General on 25-29 September.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, was quoted by Reuters as saying that they had already produced more than 20 million doses in anticipation of WHO’s recommendation. “We will ramp it up as per what the demand requirements are,” he said . “We hope that by the end of 2024, there will be zero mismatch of demand and supply, with our supply coming into the system.”
WHO said in a statement that both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children and, when implemented broadly, are expected to have high public health impact. “Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, places a particularly high burden on children in the African Region, where nearly half a million children die from the disease each year.”
“As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
The vaccine was developed by the Jenner Institute at Oxford University and SII with support from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the Wellcome Trust, and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
