New Malaria Vaccine Induces Safe Immune Response: British Research Team Findings in Tanzania

2023-08-11 21:00:03

British research team “Protein target instead of sporozoite… Safety and immunity induction in Tanzania”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-young = A British research team developed a new vaccine that works in a different way from the malaria vaccine currently in use, and as a result of conducting phase 1b clinical trials in Tanzania, Africa, it was found that it induces an immune response in infants without side effects. Confirmed.

Malaria-carrying mosquito (Anopheles gambiae)

[미국 질병통제예방센터(CDC) 제공. AP 연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]

A vaccine (ChAd63-MVA RH5) targeting the ‘RH5’ protein used by the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum to penetrate red blood cells was developed by Professor Angela Minassian’s team at the University of Oxford, UK, in the medical journal ‘Med’ on the 12th. In a phase 1b clinical trial, it was shown to safely induce an immune response in infants.

Malaria is considered one of the health challenges that mankind needs to respond to urgently, causing about 600,000 deaths every year, especially in underdeveloped regions such as Africa.

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However, the only vaccine currently approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and used is GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK)’RTS,S’, and it is known that the effect is limited to partial disease prevention. RTS,S works in such a way that the immune system recognizes the sporozoite of Plasmodium Plasmodium, which has penetrated into the human body through mosquitoes, and removes it before it invades the liver.

However, Professor Minasian pointed out, “To prevent the outbreak of malaria, 100% of Plasmodium parasites must be prevented from invading the liver. Even if only one worm penetrates the liver, it multiplies rapidly and flows out into the bloodstream, infecting red blood cells and causing malaria.”

“The ChAd63-MVA RH5 vaccine targets the RH5 protein, which is used when Plasmodium falciparum infiltrates the bloodstream to invade red blood cells.

Malaria Vaccine ‘ChAd63-MVA RH5’ Clinical Phase 1b Test Process and Results

The research team revealed that the malaria vaccine ‘ChAd63-MVA RH5’ showed immunogenicity that safely induces an immune response against the blood stage Plasmodium falciparum in a phase 1b clinical trial conducted in Tanzania. In particular, it was shown to induce a strong antibody response in the infant group under 11 months of age among the vaccination groups.[Med Silk et al. 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]

Sixty-three healthy men and women aged 6 months to 35 years participated in the phase 1b clinical trial conducted in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The clinical goal is to evaluate the safety of this vaccine in malaria-endemic populations and to determine if the vaccine stimulates an immune response.

The test was conducted in such a way that two-thirds of the subjects were vaccinated, and the control group, one-third, was vaccinated against rabies twice at two-month intervals, followed by four months of follow-up. In addition, both vaccine administrators and participants were conducted in a double-blind manner, without knowing who had received what vaccine.

As a result of the test, both the vaccination group and the control group showed only pain at the injection site and mild fever immediately after vaccination, but the overall vaccine tolerability was excellent and there were no safety concerns.

In addition, as a result of follow-up of the vaccinated participants, antibodies to RH5 were produced in the blood, and laboratory experiments showed that these antibodies inhibited the growth of Plasmodium falciparum enough to prevent malaria.

The effect of inducing an immune response was strongest in infants under 11 months of age, one of the vulnerable groups to malaria, followed by infants aged 1 to 6 years and adults.

The research team said the results of the phase 1b trial confirm for the first time that a significant anti-RH5 immune response can be safely induced by administering the ChAd63-MVA RH5 vaccine to infants in malaria-endemic areas.

“This result shows the need to conduct phase 2b clinical trials to determine whether the vaccine’s growth inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum is at a level that can ultimately prevent malaria clinical outbreaks,” he said, emphasizing the need for additional clinical trials.

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