Published on 21-05-2021 11:49 AM | Nijmegen region
Photo: Omroep Gelderland
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NIJMEGEN – They find it super exciting, the researchers at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen. The first phase of testing a promising malaria vaccine has begun and it could well be the end of the infectious disease. The Nijmegen researchers were at the cradle of the development of the vaccine.
“Our vaccine will really contribute to the eradication of malaria,” says assistant professor Matthijs Jore from Radboudumc in Nijmegen, proudly. He and his colleagues are very pleased that the first phase of testing the vaccine, which they have created together with Danish colleagues, has started.
About 30 volunteers have now been injected with the vaccine. The first test phase is expected to last until next year. “We have good expectations with this vaccine,” says physician researcher Manon Alkema. “That’s because we see in the animal studies that it is safe and very effective”.
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Half a million dead
Malaria has long been eradicated in the Netherlands, but in Africa in particular many people still die from the disease. This involves more than half a million victims a year, mostly small children. They have not yet built up immunity. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite. Mosquitoes transmit the disease to humans, and infected people cause mosquitoes to become infected. The vaccine must ensure that people can no longer transmit the malaria parasite to mosquitoes.
Search for vaccine
A research team from Radboudumc has been looking for an effective vaccine since the 1970s. “We really were founding fathers in that field, it’s a kind of calling. In those years, here were emergency buildings on the site where mosquitoes were bred and where experiments were done with transmission to mosquitoes. had to go out, they were involved in the suffering of others and wanted to do something about it “, says Matthijs Jore.
“In the 1980s we started immunizing laboratory animals with whole malaria parasites and then we discovered that antibodies against parasites can block transmission to mosquitoes. A very important discovery that we could build on,” Jore continues.
“In the 1990s, we discovered that there is a specific protein against which antibodies existed in those test animals, and that antibodies could prevent transmission to mosquitoes. We went further with the discovery of that specific protein. to make it, but it worked. “
Lack of money
That it took 30 years to develop a malaria vaccine seems strange when you consider that there was a corona vaccine within months. “In any case, developing a vaccine is normally a lengthy process and there is not as much money for malaria research as there is for corona, for example, so we had to raise money through funds and the like and that also takes time”, says Jore.
American vaccine
The malaria vaccine is now being tested, but when can it be administered on a large scale? “That will take a while”, says Manon Alkema. “Before this research is completed, we will have already been a year further. The expectation is June 2022 for the first phase. Then we will have to see how things work in the field in Africa. I expect it may take a number of years before we can start using the vaccine on a large scale ”.
For the past two years, another protein has also been tested in America. “We received a grant to compare our vaccine with the vaccine in America, and even to combine it with the vaccine in America, to see what the best vaccine is.”
Article via media partner Gelderland broadcaster, written by Petra Kuzee
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