World’s First Malaria Vaccine Approved – and it Will Be Not-for-Profit

The world’s first malaria vaccine has been given approval by a European medical agency for future use in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than a quarter million children under the age of five die every year from the disease.

European regulators examined phase III clinical trial results involving more than 16,000 young children conducted by research centers in eight African countries (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania).

RTS,S triggers the body’s immune system to defend against the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite when it first enters the human host’s bloodstream or liver.

“It’s absolutely an astonishing day,” GlaxoSmithKline’s Vice President for Africa told CNN. “It is the first time anyone ever has been able to make a vaccine against a parasite.”