- 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.