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First vaccinations have now begun in Mali in a phase III trial of a malaria vaccine developed at the University of Oxford. Known as R21/Matrix-M, it recently showed efficacy of 77% over 12 months in a phase IIb trial, and it is hoped that this phase III trial will help to lead to licensure of this malaria vaccine by 2023.

Mosquito
  • R21/Matrix-M becomes the second malaria vaccine candidate ever to start a phase III licensure trial
  • This builds on the recent finding of high level efficacy of this vaccine in a phase IIb trial in children in Burkina Faso, published today in The Lancet
  • The first phase III trial doses were administered by the team at the Malaria Research and Training Centre, Bamako, Mali, one of five trial sites across West and East Africa
  • The malaria vaccine was designed at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, who have partnered with the Serum Institute of India for commercial development

The trial will assess efficacy and safety in 4800 children across five sites in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania. A double-blind, randomised, controlled trial, where participants, aged 5-36 months, receive three vaccinations 4 weeks apart and a booster vaccination 1 year later, it will allow the vaccine to be assessed in areas of differing malaria transmission and seasonality.

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website