2011 malaria vaccine news
Stories and articles on malaria vaccine developments around the world
(Click on headline to read the full story.)
10 global health achievements in 2011
December 29, 2011 –
The year 2011 brought with it a number of milestones for the global health community.
Huffington Post
Africa: Malaria scientist does ground-breaking research
December 27, 2011 –
At the Malaria Forum hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in October, the latest findings on what is currently the most viable malaria vaccine candidate in medical history, known as RTS,S, were announced.
AllAfrica.com
Ask the pediatrician: The big stories
December 26, 2011 –
As the year draws to an end, it’s a common journalistic tradition to ask what the biggest story was in a particular area of the news.
WWLP-TV
Drug headlines of 2011
December 20, 2011 –
Developing new medicines is tricky business, requiring sound science, regulatory savvy, and marketing skills. The past year has seen success and failure in all these realms. Here, The Scientist recounts some of the noteworthy drug developments of 2011.
The Scientist
Vaccine that could eradicate most deadly form of malaria by blocking parasite close to clinical trials
December 20, 2011 –
A British vaccine with the potential to eradicate the most deadly form of malaria could enter clinical trials within two years.
Daily Mail
New approach to malaria vaccine revealed by Oxford researchers
December 20, 2011 –
A potential new malaria vaccine has shown promise in animal studies, according to research. An Oxford University team is to start safety trials in human volunteers after lab tests showed the vaccine works against all strains of the parasite.
BBC News
Health news: 2011 in review
December 19, 2011 –
The year has been dominated by arguments over the Health and Social Care Bill and its impact on the NHS, while budget squeezes have begun to impact on services. But abroad, a new malaria vaccine holds hope for millions.
The Telegraph
The forgotten malaria
December 17, 2011 –
IQUITOS, PERU—The peka peka appears sturdy enough to navigate the Itaya River, there being just a short distance to traverse for the slender wooden boat with the amusing outboard motor — peka, peka, peka is the insistent noise it makes.
Toronto Star
Unique whole parasite malaria vaccine shows promise during school of medicine clinical trial
December 15, 2011 –
For the first time, a malaria vaccine that uses the entire malaria parasite has proven safe and shown promise to produce a strong immune response in a clinical trial, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the Center for Vaccine Development at the School of Medicine.
University of Maryland's VOICE
Drug resistance blights fight against malaria
December 14, 2011 –
Half the world's population, an estimated 3.3-billion people, are threatened by the mosquito-borne disease malaria.
Radio Australia
Opinion: How the US can help fight malaria
December 8, 2011 –
Roger Bate on the spread of malaria in Africa and U.S.'s drug trade policy.
The Wall Street Journal
Malaria vaccine to get human trial
December 6, 2011 – Three U.S. health institutions say they've joined to evaluate a potential vaccine designed to prevent transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans.
United Press International
Ending malaria: How genetically modified mosquitoes could unlock Africa's wealth
December 6, 2011 – Ending malaria could lift African nations out of poverty by spurring education, market productivity, and economic growth.
The Christian Science Monitor
Map study finds vivax malaria has firm grip in Asia
December 5, 2011 – Progress is being made in the fight against the most common form of malaria in Africa, but a long-lasting type of the mosquito-borne parasitic disease has a tight grip on swathes of South Asia and parts of Latin America, scientists said on Monday.
Reuters
Coast medics impressed by new malaria vaccine
December 2, 2011 –
Communities from malaria endemic regions of Kenya are excited about the potential of a malaria vaccine, a study conducted in two malaria-endemic regions of coastal and Western Kenya shows.
www.coastweek.com
Mosquito control, malaria diagnosis as vital as a vaccine: view
December 1, 2011 –
There is both less and more than meets the eye in the recent news that an experimental malaria vaccine cut in half the risk that children would contract the illness.
Businessweek
Quarter-century quest for malaria vaccine shows signs of success
December 2011 –
The long development of RTS,S, the leading malaria vaccine candidate, has yielded preliminary positive Phase III results, and laid a path for future success.
Nature
With vaccines, Bill Gates changes the world again
November 21, 2011 – The Republic of Chad, a landlocked desert dictatorship once described by FORBES as the planet’s most corrupt, is a strange place to find Bill Gates. Yet there he was in September, beside Chad’s Qaddafi-trained president, General Idriss Deby. “He and I walked around giving polio drops to a bunch of kids,” recalls Gates.
Forbes Magazine
Fund backs cervical cancer vaccine in poor nation
November 17, 2011 – The GAVI international immunisations group has agreed to fund the roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer in developing countries, offering protection against a disease that kills one woman every two minutes.
Reuters
Malaria vaccine making headway, but don't forget your meds, experts say
November 17, 2011 – A vaccination against malaria may soon be available for children in Africa, but travelers to malaria endemic areas will have to wait much longer for such protection.
Medill Reports
Profectus BioSciences awarded follow-on grant from PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI)
November 15, 2011 –
Profectus BioSciences, Inc. (Profectus), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, announced today it has received a commitment of additional funding from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI).
Reuters
Biochemistry: Scientists decode the protective element sickle cell anemia offers against malaria
November 14, 2011 – Scientists believe they have finally figured out how the mutation that causes sickle cell anemia also protects against fatal malaria.
The New York Times
Clinical trials are a mess: How to get needed vaccines out faster
November 14, 2011 –
The global health community has been abuzz with news that the new malaria vaccine, which has been in the development phase for over two decades, appears to greatly reduce the risk of malaria in children in Africa. Yet this exciting success story is just one of nearly 90 promising new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic techniques stuck in the tangled clinical trials process.
The Atlantic
Trial of RTS,S malaria vaccine ends
November 12, 2011 – The first result of the on-going phase III clinical trials for the new malaria vaccine which is known as RTS,S being carried out in other parts of Africa including Ghana has ended. The research is meant to develop a vaccine to protect young children and infants (5 to 17 months) residing in malaria endemic regions in Africa.
Ghana Government
Efficient, safe malaria vaccine on the horizon
November 1, 2011 – There is renewed hope for an effective universal malaria vaccine that would offer significant protection against clinical and severe malaria, for African children aged 5 to 17 months as well as other young children in malaria-prone regions the world over.
Vanguard
Malaria returns to southern Botswana
November 1, 2011 – The rainy season is here and once again government is urging people to take precautions against malaria. While historically the disease has only affected the northern parts of the country, it has been found in the south.
Mmegi
Rays of optimism, clouds of difficulty in fight against malaria
November 1, 2011 – As one of the malaria control advocates who attended last month's Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Malaria Forum in Seattle, I arrived not to gray skies and rain, as is common in the American Pacific Northwest, but to bright, sunny skies—followed by a rapid return to clouds, a metaphor of the unprecedented progress we've seen in malaria control but also the challenges that remain ahead.
AllAfrica
Ghana plans to include malaria vaccine in EPI
October 28, 2011 – Ghana has started some preparatory discussions and arrangements, locally and on the international scene, to ensure a smooth roll-out of the RTS,S experimental vaccine into the country’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), once the vaccine becomes available after licensure.
Ghana Business News
Malaria vaccine trialled
October 19, 2011 –
Millions of children’s lives could be saved by a new vaccine shown to halve the risk of malaria in the first large-scale trial across seven African countries,” reported The Guardian.
NHS Choices
Breakthrough malaria vaccine tantalizingly close
October 19, 2011 – A malaria vaccine has eluded scientists for decades, but preliminary results from a phase 3 clinical trial in Africa are providing hope. The data suggest that the vaccine, known as RTS,S, cuts the number of malaria cases in half.
CNN
Anti-malaria vaccine RTS,S reduces malaria risk in children, policy outcomes by 2015
October 19, 2011 –
A policy recommendation for the RTS,S malaria experimental vaccine is possible as early as 2015, paving the way for decisions by African nations regarding large scale implementation of the vaccine through their national immunisation programmes.
Ghana Business News
First results from ongoing Phase 3 trial show malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S reduces the risk of malaria by half in African children aged 5 to 17 months
October 18, 2011 – A malaria vaccine has eluded scientists for decades, but preliminary results from a phase 3 clinical trial in Africa are providing hope. The data suggest that the vaccine, known as RTS,S, cuts the number of malaria cases in half.
AllAfrica
Experimental malaria vaccine protects many children, study shows
October 18, 2011 –
For the first time, an experimental vaccine has been shown to safely protect large numbers of children against malaria, one of the world’s most devastating scourges and one that has long evaded medicine’s most potent weapons.
The Washington Post
Malaria vaccine could save millions of children's lives
October 18, 2011 –
Millions of small children's lives could be saved by a new vaccine that has been shown to halve the risk of malaria in the first large-scale trials across seven African countries.
The Guardian
Malaria vaccine prevents about half of cases in children
October 18, 2011 –
A malaria vaccine under development has passed a critical milestone with researchers reporting Tuesday that the shots protect about half of all children from the disease.
Los Angeles Times
Experimental malaria vaccine slashes infection risk by half
October 18, 2011 –
After decades of disappointment, researchers think they're finally on track to unleash the first practical vaccine against malaria, one of mankind's ancient scourges. In the world's first large field trial of an experimental malaria vaccine, several thousand young children who got three doses had about 55 percent less risk of getting the disease over a year than those who got a control vaccine against rabies or meningitis.
NPR
Malaria vaccine shows promise, scientists say
October 18, 2011 –
Preliminary results from the trial of a malaria vaccine show that it protected nearly half of the children who received it from bouts of serious malaria, scientists said Tuesday.
The New York Times
Malaria scientist celebrates success after 24 years
October 18, 2011 –
For Joe Cohen, a GlaxoSmithKline research scientist who has spent 24 years trying to create the world's first malaria vaccine, Tuesday, October 18, 2011 goes down as a fabulous day.
Reuters
Malaria discovery gives hope for new vaccine
September 2, 2011 –
An investigation into the mysterious inner workings of the malaria parasite revealed that it survives and proliferates in the human bloodstream thanks in part to a single, crucial chemical that the parasite produces internally.
Drug Discovery & Development
Military medicine's long war against malaria
September 1, 2011 –
Army Maj. Jittawadee Murphy peers into a paper bucket full of freshly hatched Anopheles stephaniimosquitoes. She needs to separate out the females—the only ones that bite—so they can be infected with malaria.
NPR
Government should prepare people for a malaria vaccine
August 24, 2011 –
UGANDA, like other developing countries, battles an intricate war against malaria. Malaria is preventable and treatable, and progress has been made, using tools like insecticide-treated nets, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and indoor residual spraying, but despite this, malaria remains a leading cause of illness and death among young children in Uganda.
New Vision
World Mosquito Day – 114 years and counting in the battle against malaria
August 19, 2011 –
World Mosquito Day, 20 August, came into being 114 years ago when British doctor Ronald Ross made the historic link that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.
The Guardian
Research holds key to Africa’s scientific independence – Dr. Ogutu
August 12, 2011 –
A Senior Clinical Trialist of the Kenya Medical Research Institute says even though African countries have long gained political independence, they are yet to move towards scientific independence. According to Dr. Berhards Ogutu, researching into drugs and products, which could be developed and exported outside the continent, would make Africa scientifically independent.
Ghana Business News
Powering clinical trials
August 1, 2011 –
To ensure high-quality clinical trials of a malaria vaccine, organizers in rural Africa must first upgrade electrical and research infrastructures.
The Scientist
Potential malaria vaccine protects against different strains
July 29, 2011 –
A team of US scientists has shown how a malaria vaccine could be more effective by making it work against different strains of the malaria parasite.
The discovery may help develop more effective vaccines for other diseases, too.
Voice of America
July 25, 2011 – The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), one of the important players in the malaria vaccine development field, announced a major breakthrough in the fight against malaria. Swiss TPH reports that a new malaria vaccine conferred 50 percent protection to Tanzanian children against clinical episodes of malaria.
Swiss TPH
Targeting zero: sustaining success in the control of malaria
July 12, 2011 –
Professor David Schellenberg, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Director of the ACT Consortium, has provided MPs with the most up-to-date information on efforts to tackle malaria by producing the seventh annual report for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.
University of London
Malaria – on the long, slow but steady road to elimination
June 28, 2011 –
Amid all the gloomy talk of economic recession and dire warnings that the amount of money available for development aid is going to shrink, a report on the state of malaria research out on Tuesday is refreshingly upbeat. Investment has more than quadrupled in the past 16 years, it says, from $121m in 1993 to $612m in 2009.
The Guardian
AFRICA: Malaria vaccine could have extra benefits
June 20, 2011 –
The malaria vaccine that has eluded medical science for decades is now within reach, with the final phase of clinical trials underway in seven African countries, including Malawi, where the disease claims 6,500 lives a year, most of them children under the age of five.
IRIN
Donors commit vaccine funding to achieve historic milestone in global health
June 13, 2011 – Polio could be eradicated in the next two to four years, the billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates predicted yesterday as he appealed to world leaders attending a global vaccine summit in London to commit extra funding to protect the world's poorest children.
GAVI Alliance press release
Bill Gates's plea: help me save four million lives
June 13, 2011 – Polio could be eradicated in the next two to four years, the billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates predicted yesterday as he appealed to world leaders attending a global vaccine summit in London to commit extra funding to protect the world's poorest children.
The Independent
Bill Gates: Vaccines make aid go furthest
June 13, 2011 – Many hard-up Brits resent money paid out in foreign aid. But four million children's lives could be saved if a Global Alliance For Vaccines and Immunisation summit in London today helps secure the £2.3billion needed to protect them against illnesses including pneumonia and malaria.
The Sun
Gates optimistic on vaccine 'magic'
June 11, 2011 – Hopes are rising that political leaders will agree on Monday to pledge enough cash to save the lives of millions of children in the world's poorest countries.
Business chief and philanthropist Bill Gates and Prime Minister David Cameron are to lead the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, which will see political leaders discuss how to generate sufficient funds to ensure children receive the vaccines they need.
Belfast Telegraph
Five global health headlines: escaping Syria, AIDS at 30, Viagra as a weapon?
June 10, 2011 – Vaccines have had a rough few years in the eyes of the public. Mistrust of the prevention tool and confusion over possible side-effects have grown, say authors of a special series in the Lancet journal on the next decade of vaccine research. At this crossroads, the journal calls vaccines “undoubtedly one of the best investments in health” and puts out a new call for the development of 20 new vaccines over the course of the next decade, with AIDS and malaria vaccines highest on the list.
PBS NewsHour
Researchers' hope of 20 new vaccines in next decade
June 9, 2011 – Even as the world's first malaria vaccine gets closer to the market, two leading drug firms have joined forces to test a next-generation shot against the mosquito-borne disease that kills 800,000 people a year.
BBC News
GSK, J&J to trial next-generation malaria vaccine
June 7, 2011 – Even as the world's first malaria vaccine gets closer to the market, two leading drug firms have joined forces to test a next-generation shot against the mosquito-borne disease that kills 800,000 people a year.
Reuters
Initiative to develop second-generation malaria vaccine
June 7, 2011 –
The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) announces that it has entered into a collaboration with Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This collaboration is aimed at developing a second-generation vaccine against malaria — a deadly disease that kills close to 800,000 people annually, most of them young children under age 5 in Africa.
Infection Control Today
Drug firms cut vaccine prices to the developing world
June 6, 2011 – Several major drugs companies have announced big cuts to the amounts they charge for their vaccines in the developing world. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi-Aventis have agreed to cut prices through the international vaccine alliance Gavi.
BBC News
The new Gates Foundation headquarters reflects charity's roots—and reach
May 21, 2011 – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's philanthropy is literally reshaping Seattle, from the new headquarters opening across from Seattle Center to the burgeoning corridor of biotech and health institutes in nearby South Lake Union.
The Seattle Times
The three-legged stool of successful disease prevention
May 10, 2011 – When not focused on the forthcoming royal wedding in London, much of the world on April 25 directed its attention to World Malaria Day. In the U.S., we heard from the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) that child death rates in focus countries have declined by 23-36 percent and that globally 150,000 fewer children have died from malaria since 2006, when the initiative began.
Huffington Post
Leading global health groups call on US to accelerate research
May 3, 2011 – A coalition of 30 leading global health organizations that work on vaccines, drugs, and other tools and technologies that save lives today released a list of recommendations for US policymakers and regulators, calling for acceleration of scientific innovations and streamlining the approval of safe and affordable inventions in order to save more lives around the world.
PhysOrg.com
Advancing against malaria
April 29, 2011 –
Progress against malaria is one area where U.S. investments in global health have made an incredible impact. Just five years ago, it was estimated that malaria killed nearly one million children annually in sub-Saharan Africa. The economic cost to the continent was estimated to be nearly $30 billion each year in lost productivity.
Voice of America
Malaria: Solid success but no time for complacence
April 25, 2011 – In a rural hospital in Ethiopia that cares for the poor, a fragile young girl called Zakhiya has recovered recently from severe malaria. In the six short years of her life, Zakhiya has battled a number of infectious diseases. Her struggle will probably continue throughout her childhood. But Zakhiya is fortunate: she has fought off malaria -- this time.
Huffington Post
Interview: Dr. John Lusingu talks about malaria vaccine trials in Tanzania
April 25, 2011 – After speaking with Dr. Loucq about the exciting development of the malaria vaccine through the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), we were thrilled to talk to Dr. John Lusingu, a malaria vaccine researcher at an MVI trial site in Tanzania. Dr. Lusingu discussed the devastating impact of malaria in his community and ongoing research on the ground.
ONE blog
Interview: Dr. Christian Loucq discusses his life-long passion for vaccines
April 25, 2011 – We were delighted when Dr. Christian Loucq, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative stopped by the ONE office last week for an interview in honor of World Malaria Day. He candidly shared his experiences from around the world and his thoughts on vaccines, advocacy and the future of the fight against malaria.
ONE blog
USAID Administrator Shah commemorates World Malaria Day
April 25, 2011 – Five years ago, malaria killed nearly one million people each year—most of them children. In Africa alone, the burden of the disease cost the continent $12 billion a year in lost productivity. Today we help save nearly 150,000 lives every year.
USAID press release
UN hopes to reduce malaria deaths to near zero by 2015
April 25, 2011 – Malaria deaths could be reduced to near zero by 2015, helped by progress made so far in the global fight against the disease and a vaccine that is becoming more effective, the UN special envoy for malaria said Monday on World Malaria Day.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
The mysteries of immunity to malaria
April 25, 2011 – Residents of malaria-endemic areas eventually develop some immunity to the infection, but the process is drawn out and inefficient. Why it is so difficult to develop immunity to malaria, and the mechanism by which partial protection is finally achieved, remains a mystery.
The Lancet
Malaria: Vaccine holds the ace but still expected
April 25, 2011 – Over the years, malaria has continued to be of concern to experts in public health. This is moreso that poverty in the African continent has prevented many people from seeking medical attention on time whenever malaria strikes, leading to nearly one million deaths every year.
Nigerian Tribune
Vaccines: Partnerships boost success hopes
April 21, 2011 – The world’s first large-scale clinical trial of a malaria vaccine has just completed enrolment. In seven African countries, 15,640 babies and young children are receiving the so-called RTS,S vaccine being developed by GlaxoSmithKline in a public-private partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI).
Financial Times
Hopes still high that killer can be beaten
April 21, 2011 – From sprawling Nigeria to feuding Ivory Coast, staff and volunteers across Africa are racing to distribute mosquito nets. If they do not beat the coming rainy season, flooding will block transport routes just as malaria surges and claims many lives.
Financial Times
