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Follow up of the Burkina Faso trial is continuing, to assess the value of further booster vaccinations. The findings encouraged investment in a phase III study in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania, at sites of seasonal and perennial malaria transmission. Preliminary findings from this trial have confirmed high efficacy at seasonal sites.
Developers of the vaccine, based at the University of Oxford in the UK, have teamed up with the Serum Institute of India to ensure large quantities of the vaccine would be available should it be approved for use in Africa. Although R21/Matrix-M has yet to be assessed by WHO, two countries – Ghana and Nigeria – approved its use early in 2023.
The world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, is in high demand but supplies are currently limited. Additional malaria vaccines are thus urgently needed.
An EDCTP-funded phase II trial recently found that a second malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, was highly efficacious, meeting WHO’s preferred 75% efficacy target. A further report, on two-year follow up of infants in Burkina Faso, is equally encouraging. The research team found that a booster dose of R21/Matrix-M given 1 year after the three-dose primary regimen maintained high levels of protection against clinical malaria.
R21/Matrix-M again hit the WHO’s preferred efficacy target. In children given the highest dose of Matrix-M adjuvant, efficacy was 80% 1 year after boosting. In addition, antibody concentrations following booster vaccination showed a close correlation with vaccine efficacy.
Further promising results on the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine have raised hopes that it will soon be available for use in countries.
R21/Matrix-M confirms early promise