Malaria kills almost 600,000 people per year despite billions spent on prevention
Sep 08, 2022
Encouraging new data on a malaria vaccine from Oxford University bodes well for the global effort to combat the mosquito-borne disease that kills a child every minute, its makers said on Wednesday.
After decades of work, the only approved malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, made by British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), was recently endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Oxford’s vaccine, called R21/Matrix-M, is likely more effective than Mosquirix in preventing the disease that kills about 600,000 a year despite roughly $3 billion spent annually on insecticides, bednets and anti-malarial drugs, Oxford scientist Adrian Hill said.
It also has a manufacturing advantage, he said, citing a deal with Serum Institute of India to produce 200 million doses annually, starting in 2023. In contrast, GSK has committed to produce up to 15 million doses of Mosquirix every year through 2028, well under than the roughly 100 million doses a year of the four-dose vaccine the WHO says is needed long-term to cover around 25 million children.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/malaria-vaccine-oxford-mosquirix-1.6575880