'Closer To Malaria-Free Future': WHO Approves Highly Effective, Cheaper Malaria Vaccine

R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, is the first malaria vaccine to reach 75 percent efficacy target.

R21/Matrix-M vaccine is the first to meet the WHO’s target of 75 percent efficacy. ( Image Source :Getty )

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a highly effective and much cheaper malaria vaccine for widespread use. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, is only the second malaria vaccine to be recommended by the WHO. It is the first to meet the WHO’s target of 75 percent efficacy. Nearly half a million children in the African region die every year from the disease, which is caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes. Demand for Malaria vaccine is very high. However, available supplies of the RTS,S vaccine, the first malaria vaccine approved by the WHO in 2021, are limited. A second WHO-recommended vaccine is expected “to protect more children faster, and to bring us closer to our vision of a malaria-free future,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Today is a great day for health, a great day for science, and a great day for vaccines:@WHO is recommending a second vaccine to prevent #malaria in children at risk of the disease, called R21/Matrix-M.

Demand for the RTS,S vaccine far exceeds supply, so the R21 vaccine is a… pic.twitter.com/1trR6fmYMc

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 2, 2023

The new R21/Matrix-M vaccine will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. According to the BBC, it is already lined up to make more than 100 million doses a year and plans to scale up to 200 million a year.

The R21 vaccine was shown to reduce symptomatic cases of malaria by 75% during the 12 months following a 3-dose series. A fourth dose given a year after the third maintained efficacy. This high efficacy is similar to the efficacy demonstrated when RTS,S is given seasonally. 

Each dose costs between $2 and $4; four doses are needed per person. That is about half the price of RTS,S.

"As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two," Tedros said in a statement, as per AFP.

The recommendation follows advice from the WHO – Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG).

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said: “This second vaccine holds real potential to close the huge demand-and-supply gap. Delivered to scale and rolled out widely, the two vaccines can help bolster malaria prevention and control efforts, and save hundreds of thousands of young lives in Africa from this deadly disease.”

At least 28 African countries plan to introduce a WHO-recommended malaria vaccine as part of their national immunisation programmes, the WHO said. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has approved providing support to roll out malaria vaccines to 18 countries. The RTS,S vaccine will be available in some African countries in early 2024 and the R21 malaria vaccine is expected to become available to countries in mid-2024, according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, observers have hailed WHO’s recommendation but warned the vaccine was “no magic bullet” in the fight against malaria and that it should be used in tandem with other measures, such as insecticide-treated nets and indoor spraying to prevent the disease.