Efficacy of a Plasmodium falciparum subunit vaccine and correlates of immunity in malaria-naive adults following vaccination and challenge via controlled human malaria infection

Efforts to generate an effective vaccine against malaria have been ongoing for more than a century. Towards this goal, the World Health Organization has set a minimum target of 75% vaccine efficacy (VE) for novel vaccine candidates. In 2021, a vaccine candidate developed at the Jenner Institute known as R21/MatrixMTM exceeded that goal with a VE of 80% in a clinical trial conducted in African children. This vaccine candidate has now been approved for use in children in several countries where malaria is endemic. An estimated 50 million people travel to malaria-endemic regions annually, yet an efficacious vaccination regimen in malaria-naive adults has not been determined. Current strategies for mitigation rely on prophylaxis with antimalarial medications. Prophylaxis regimens are expensive and failure-prone with significant side-effects limiting their prescription in pregnancy, children, and in those with common neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression. Vaccination with R21/MatrixMTM is not only safe in children, but also avoids the side-effects common to antimalarial medications. Furthermore, the R21/MM vaccine is inexpensive ($4 USD/dose) supporting its implementation as a traveller’s vaccine if shown to be effective in this population. The principal investigator will perform a combined safety and efficacy trial of R21/MatrixMTM in healthy malaria-naive adult volunteers. VE will be assessed by controlled human infection via infectious mosquito bites conducted at Imperial College London. Clinical and immunologic analyses will be performed at the Jenner Institute in Oxford, UK. The results from this study will build towards a vaccine that protects at-risk populations living in non-endemic regions against malaria disease. Additionally, this postdoctoral training will provide the experience needed to investigate future vaccines in my own independent research program.

Project details

Capacity Strengthening
Immunology
Impact of Interventions
Vaccines

Oct 2024 — Sep 2026

$98,316

Canada