The first potential vaccine for malaria in the world proved only to be effective 30% of the time in babies from Africa in a recently concluded trial. The results called into question if the vaccine can be a weapon in the world’s fight against the deadly disease.
The poor result was very surprising to many, as GlaxoSmithKline has been working on its development for more than three decades. It leaves a significant amount of years of work ahead for scientists before a vaccine against malaria could be ready for the many countries desperately in need of one.
Malaria is a parasitic disease that is mosquito-borne and kills hundreds of thousands of people annually, mainly babies on the African continent and scientists have said a vaccine that is effective is the key to eradicating the disease.
Results from a trial of 6,500 babes who were aged from six to 12 weeks indicated that the vaccine gave modest protection in reducing episodes of malaria in 30% of the cases compared to immunizing with a control vaccine, said researchers Friday.
Vaccinating babies, instead of toddlers, is what is preferred since the vaccine could then become part of routine immunizations received by infants. Having a separate program just for older children would mean a large extra cost.
Despite GSK’s recent setback, the top drug maker in Britain said it is pushing ahead with the vaccine’s development. The drug maker said they would not give up at this point after investing 30 years in the vaccine’s development.
