A team of international companies has partnered to administer a vaccine candidate in a Phase I clinical trial involving humans for the first time to determine whether the vaccine successfully inhibits the transmission of malaria parasites.
The companies, which include Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Imaxio, designed the trial to test Mosquirix, which was created by GSK. The European Medicines Agency recently granted the vaccine a positive scientific opinion for use among children.
“After a first clinical trial involving our pro-immunogenic technology IMX313 in 2013, we are very enthusiastic to see it reaching the clinic within a second vaccine candidate,” Imaxio
Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Le Vert said. “Collaborating with Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and GSK in the development of vaccines is a great honor for us and reinforces our confidence in IMX313.”
Approximately half of the people in the world are considered at risk for contracting malaria. In 2013 alone, approximately 584,000 people died from the disease, and there is an urgent need for an effective vaccine.
“Blocking transmission of malaria by mosquitoes from human to human is increasingly seen as one several complementary ways to fight this very important disease.” Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, said. “The malaria vaccine program at the Jenner Institute is now unique in having vaccines against all stages of the parasite’s life cycle in clinical development. The combination of technologies from Oxford, Imaxio & GSK is a very promising way to develop a transmission blocking vaccine candidate.”
