Coming soon: A vaccine for malaria

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It's a eureka moment for scientists ... Experts have made a breakthrough with a malaria Vaccine being clinically tested in Africa right now. The new vaccine is 56 per cent effective in Stage 3 clinical trials which means it could save the lives of 400000 children every year around the world.

Consider these facts:

Even today , malaria is endemic in 100 countries.

Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria.

Every 24 hours, 3000 people worldwide, mainly children, lose their lives to the deadly disease.

In this scenario, getting this far meant 3 decades of research and $300 million of financial aid. No wonder the Gates Foundation describes this step as the "achievement of the decade". Brainchild of pharma giant GSK and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the vaccine might hit the shelves in 3 years from now.

I interviewed Ashley Birkett, Director of Research and Development of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, on the hope it brings and the milestone this represents. Read on...

After 30 years of research, there's a possibility of a vaccine for malaria. How do you feel?

All the hard work seems to have paid off. When the initial results came, some of our team members burst into tears. It was a very emotional moment. We were working on this particular vaccine for 2 decades. It has been a real challenge. Many in the scientific community thought it was impossible. But to be a part of what could potentially create history, that feeling, it is sublime.

Why was it taking so long for scientists to develop a vaccine for malaria?

Well, there's been a lots of failures and lots of attempts to develop malaria vaccine for many decades. But the problem was that malaria is caused by parasites. And till now, no one in the world has ever generated a vaccine against parasites. We have made vaccines against viruses and bacteria but never against a parasite, because it is a very difficult organism.

Tell me something about the clinical trials.

The trials involved around 16000 children and was conducted in Africa. We found the vaccine to be 56 per cent effective in protecting children aged between 5 and 17 months from a year after immunization. And it proced to be 47 per cent effective in preventing severe cases which cause death. The trial is not complete. The researchers are continuing to gather data on a younger group of infants, aged between 6 and 12 weeks, who are being vaccinated as we speak. This group would be the target population for the malaria vaccine, should it prove effective, since they take part in routine public health inoculation programmes. Both age groups will be followed for nearly three years to track malaria infections and to see how long the protection lasts. If all goes well, the vaccine will be in the market in 3 years.

Does the vaccine mean anything for India? Or is it just for African countries?

Worldover, there are two strains of malaria - falciparum and the vivax. Falciparum is the deadly strain of malaria, usually resulting in death. And it is mostly present in African countries. This particular vaccine is for the falciparum strain. The challenge in India is that both the strains of malaria are present, 25 per cent falciparum and 75 per cent vivax. So , this vaccine will not mean much for India. However, we are working on a programme with the Indian government towards a vaccine for the vivax strain.

What next? Do we see Malaria go the Smallpox or the Polio way?

Well, right now, it's not like that. This vaccine will not act like a magic wand and eradicate malaria completely. But it's a huge step and in the right direction. At present, it's not as effective as the polio vaccine but in future, we ultimately want to develop a vaccine with 80-90 per cent efficacy so that it makes its way through the child immunisation programme. But that's a dream, we got our fingers crossed.