The scientists who created the new malaria vaccine have called it a “world-changer,” and Ghana is the first nation to approve it.
Contrary to other attempts in the same field, the vaccination, known as R21, seems to be extremely successful.
The final trial data on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, which has not yet been made public, was evaluated by Ghana’s drug authorities, who then opted to use it.
The vaccine is also being considered for approval by the World Health Organization.
Malaria kills about 620,000 people each year, most of them young children.
It has been a massive, century-long, scientific undertaking to develop a vaccine that protects the body from the malaria parasite.
Trial data from preliminary studies in Burkina Faso showed the R21 vaccine was up to 80% effective when given as three initial doses, and a booster a year later.
But widespread use of the vaccine hinges on the results of a larger trial involving nearly 5,000 children.
These had been expected to take place at the end of last year, but have still not been formally published. However, they have been shared with some government bodies in Africa, and scientists.
Although I haven’t seen the final results, they reportedly paint a picture that is comparable to that of the past investigations.
The use of the vaccination in children between the ages of five months and three years old has been approved by Ghana’s Food and Pharmaceuticals Authority, which has examined the data.
The World Health Organization and other African nations are both analysing the data.
African nations are saying “we’ll decide,” according to Prof. Adrian Hill, head of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, where the vaccine was developed, after being left out of the Covid-19 vaccine deployment during the pandemic.
He told me: “We expect R21 to make a major impact on malaria mortality in children in the coming years, and in the longer term [it] will contribute to overall final goal of malaria eradication and elimination.”
The Serum Institute of India is preparing to produce between 100-200 million doses per year, with a vaccine factory being constructed in Accra, Ghana.
Each dose of R21 is expected to cost a couple of dollars.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, said: “Developing a vaccine to greatly impact this huge disease burden has been extraordinarily difficult.”
He added that Ghana, as the first country to approve the vaccine, represents a “significant milestone in our efforts to combat malaria around the world”.
