NIJMEGEN – A new vaccine against malaria, largely developed in Nijmegen, was tested for the first time this week in volunteers at Radboudumc.
Almost half a million people die of malaria every year, especially young children in Africa. The germs of malaria (the parasites) are transferred from one person to another via the malaria mosquito. This new vaccine aims to prevent this transmission, so that malaria cannot spread further.
New concept
Scientists from Nijmegen were at the forefront of this vaccine in the 1990s, when they discovered that a protein of the parasite (the Pfs48 / 45 protein) plays an essential role in the transmission of the malaria parasite to the mosquito. By switching off this protein you can in principle block the formation of new parasites in the mosquito. This prevents other people from being infected via a mosquito bite. The vaccine does not prevent you from getting malaria yourself, but it counteracts malaria in other people. This was a completely new concept at the time. Together with Danish colleagues from the Statens Serum Institut, this protein has now been developed into a form (called R0.6C) that can be administered as a vaccine against malaria.
Antibodies
The so-called R0.6C vaccine is a recombinant product that targets the Pfs48 / 45 protein. This vaccine must generate antibodies (antibodies) against this protein in humans. If someone with malaria and the administered vaccine is bitten by a mosquito, that mosquito will also ingest the antibodies. Those antibodies will block the development of the parasites in the mosquito. This also prevents further spread of malaria in the human population.
Safety first
Whether the concept works must of course first be carefully tested. The first test (phase 1 study), which is now being carried out on volunteers at Radboudumc, is now investigating the safety of this vaccine. It will also be examined whether antibodies are indeed formed in the blood of the volunteers that can prevent the transmission of malaria.
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