The usage of a second malaria vaccine has been recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday (02).
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing in Geneva that “almost exactly two years ago, WHO recommended the broad use of the world’s first malaria vaccine called RTS,S”.
“Today, it gives me great pleasure to announce that WHO is recommending a second vaccine called R21/Matrix-M to prevent malaria in children at risk of the disease.”
Developed by Oxford University in Britain.
R21/Matrix-M will become available internationally by mid-2024, with doses costing between $2 and $4.
According to Tedros, “WHO is now reviewing the vaccine for prequalification, which is WHO stamp of approval, and will enable GAVI (a global vaccine alliance) and UNICEF to buy the vaccine from manufacturers”.
R21/Matrix-M is mass manufactured by Serum Institute of India and uses Novavax’s Matrix M adjuvant.
Using Novavax’s Matrix M adjuvant, R21/Matrix-M is mass manufactured by Serum Institute of India. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, revealed that they have already produced over 20 million doses in anticipation of WHO’s recommendation.
Poonawalla claims that they will ramp up production according to demand requirements. “We hope that by the end of 2024, there will be zero mismatch of demand and supply, with our supply coming into the system”.
The vaccine is set to compete against the RTS,S shot by GSK plc (GSK.L), recommended by the United Nations in 2021 and sold under the Mosquirix brand.
The WHO said both vaccines had shown similar efficacy in separate trials, but as there had been no head-to-head trial there was no evidence showing whether one performed better.
According to the WHO, both vaccines displayed similar efficacy in separate trials. However, no head-to-head trials were conducted to deduce which performed better. Therefore, the agency has extended the decision to countries, allowing them to choose based on various factors, including the affordability and supply.
A GSK statement claims that “GSK has always recognised the need for a second malaria vaccine, but it is increasingly evident that RTS,S, the first ever malaria vaccine and the first ever vaccine against a human parasite, set a strong benchmark”.
It was also added that one dose of the shot was received by over 1.7 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi and that the vaccine would be administered to nine more malaria endemic countries in early 2024.
Source: Reuters
