The trials are sponsored by the University of Oxford (UOXF), UK, with the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI) acting as both a co-funder and collaborator. These exciting studies are expected to provide proof-of-concept for the use of a multi-stage vaccine to extend the protection against malaria and help lead to future efforts to eliminate it by targeting two stages of the parasite’s life-cycle.
Despite significant progress in prevention and treatment, malaria remains a major global health threat, causing an estimated 610,000 deaths globally in 2024, with young children in sub‑Saharan Africa disproportionately affected.
Malaria is a shape‑shifting enemy, the parasite Plasmodium falciparum moves through several distinct stages, beginning as sporozoites transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, then infecting and multiplying in the liver, before emerging into the bloodstream to invade and replicate within red blood cells. A single‑stage vaccine, like the currently recommended RTS,S/AS01 or R21/Matrix-M vaccines, targets only one stage in that complex lifecycle.
Now, the University of Oxford, the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro and EVI have launched two new clinical trials to test a next‑generation multi-stage malaria vaccine designed to target two stages together two in the Plasmodium falciparum lifecycle. The trials include a Phase 1b study (VAC093) that will evaluate different combinations of R21 – the Malaria vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SIIPL) and based on the R21 antigen developed by the University of Oxford - and the blood-stage vaccine candidates RH5.1and R78C developed by the Draper Lab, also at the University of Oxford. In addition, there is a Phase 2b study (VAC087) to generate the first efficacy data on R78C alone and in combination with the RH5.1 and R21 vaccines (all vaccines administered with Matrix-M® adjuvant).
Read the full story on the Department of Paediatrics website.