The United Nations Children′s Fund (UNICEF) has given the pharmaceutical company GSK a contract for the first ever supply of a malaria vaccine with a potential value of USD 170 million. If fulfilled, the agreement would result in the availability of 18 million doses of RTS, S over the following three years, potentially saving thousands of lives each year.

Etleva Kadilli, Director of UNICEF′s Supply Division, said that the introduction of the vaccine is a significant step in saving children′s lives and lowering the burden of malaria as part of the malaria preventive and control program. The vaccine could offer additional protection against malaria to approximately 25 million children each year in areas of more than 30 nations with moderate to high malaria transmission when the availability increases.

It took 35 years of research and development to develop the RTS, S malaria vaccine, the first-ever vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous malaria parasite in the world and most common in Africa.

As part of the WHO-led Malaria Vaccine Implementation Program, the pilot usage of the regular vaccine was started in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in 2019. In October 2021, the WHO recommended the broad use of the first malaria vaccine in nations with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission. This recommendation was based on the pilots′ experiences and the data they produced. The door for a wider rollout of the vaccine was soon opened by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance′s decision to support the malaria vaccine program in qualifying nations in December 2021.

The afflicted nations are anticipated to have a high demand for the malaria vaccine. The initial supply will be limited; however, as manufacturing capacity rises to the required level, the supply will gradually enhance. (ETHealthWorld, August 17, 2022)