RTS,S

RTS,S — trade name Mosquirix — is a recombinant protein-based malaria vaccine.[1] Approved for use by European regulators in July 2015, it is not only the world's first licensed malaria vaccine, but the first vaccine licensed for use against a parasitic disease of any kind. The RTS,S vaccine was conceived of and created in the late 1980s by scientists working at SmithKline Beecham Biologicals (now GlaxoSmithKline) laboratories in Belgium.[2] The vaccine was further developed through a collaboration between GSK and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research[3] and has been funded in part by the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its efficacy ranges from 26 to 50% in infants and young children. It is considered to be a milestone advance in the worldwide campaign against malaria. On 23 October 2015, The World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) jointly recommended a pilot implementation of the vaccine in Africa.[4]

History

A completely effective vaccine is not yet available for malaria, although several vaccines are under development. SPf66 was tested extensively in endemic areas in the 1990s, but clinical trials showed it to be insufficiently effective.[5] Other vaccine candidates, targeting the blood-stage of the malaria parasite's life cycle, have also been insufficient on their own.[6] RTS,S is one of several potential vaccines under development that target the pre-erythrocytic stage of the disease. Among them, RTS,S has shown the most promising results so far.[7]

RTS,S has been funded, most recently, by the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and GlaxoSmithKline with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[8]

The RTS,S-based vaccine formulation had previously been demonstrated to be safe, well tolerated, immunogenic, and to potentially confer partial efficacy in both malaria-naive and -experienced adults as well as children, further research was considered necessary to improve the effectiveness of the vaccine.[9]

In November 2012, findings from a Phase III trial of RTS,S reported that it provided modest protection against both clinical and severe malaria in young infants. In October 2013, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reported that the RTS,S vaccine reduced the amount of cases amongst young children by almost 50 percent and among infants by around 25 percent, following the conclusion of an 18-month clinical trial. Data showed the protective effect after the 18 months, however, was less than had previously been seen after 12 months.

GSK submitted an application for a marketing license with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in July, 2014.[10] The new vaccine has the backing of the UN's Swiss-based WHO which states that it will recommend the use of RTS,S for use starting in 2015, providing it gets approval.[11]

The EMA approved the RTS,S vaccine in July 2015, with a recommendation that it be used in Africa for babies at risk of getting malaria. RTS,S was the world's first malaria vaccine to get approval for this use.[12][13] After additional regulatory decisions by the World Health Organization, and individual African country governments, a "roll out" of the product could come as early as 2017.

Components and mechanism

The RTS,S vaccine was engineered using genes from the repeat and T-cell epitope in the pre-erythrocytic circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite and a viral envelope protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBsAg), to which was added a chemical adjuvant (AS01) to increase the immune system response.[14] Infection is prevented by inducing humoral and cellular immunity, with high antibody titers, that block the parasite from infecting the liver.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Kelland, Kate (Oct 18, 2011). "Malaria scientist celebrates success after 24 years". Reuters.
  2. ↑ http://www.google.com/patents/EP0614465B1?cl=3Den
  3. ↑ Heppner, D. Gray, et al., (2005), "Towards an RTS,S-based, multi-stage, multi-antigen vaccine against falciparum malaria: progress at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research", Vaccine, Mar;23(17-18):2243-50.
  4. ↑ http://who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sage/en/
  5. ↑ Graves, Patricia M; Gelband, Hellen (2006). Graves, Patricia M, ed. "Vaccines for preventing malaria (SPf66)". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2): CD005966. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005966. PMID 16625647.
  6. ↑ Graves, Patricia M; Gelband, Hellen (2006). Graves, Patricia M, ed. "Vaccines for preventing malaria (blood-stage)". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4): CD006199. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006199. PMID 17054281.
  7. ↑ Graves, Patricia M; Gelband, Hellen (2006). Graves, Patricia M, ed. "Vaccines for preventing malaria (pre-erythrocytic)". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4): CD006198. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006198. PMID 17054280.
  8. ↑ Stein, Rob (October 18, 2011). "Experimental malaria vaccine protects many children, study shows". Washington Post.
  9. ↑ Regules, Jason A; Cummings, James F; Ockenhouse, Christian F (2011). "The RTS,S vaccine candidate for malaria". Expert Review of Vaccines 10 (5): 589–99. doi:10.1586/erv.11.57. PMID 21604980.
  10. ↑ Plumridge, Hester (24 July 2014). "Glaxo Files Its Entry in Race for a Malaria Vaccine". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Kelland, Kate (7 October 2013). "GSK aims to market world's first malaria vaccine". Reuters. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "First malaria vaccine receives positive scientific opinion from EMA". European Medicines Agency. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Walsh, Fergus (24 July 2015). "Malaria vaccine gets 'green light'". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  14. ↑ The RTS,S Clinical Trials Partnership (2012). "A Phase 3 Trial of RTS,S/AS01 Malaria Vaccine in African Infants". New England Journal of Medicine 367 (24): 2284–95. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1208394. PMID 23136909.
  15. ↑ Foquet, Lander; Hermsen, Cornelus; van Gemert, Geert-Jan; Van Braeckel, Eva; Weening, Karin; Sauerwein, Robert; Meuleman, Philip; Leroux-Roels, Geert (2014). "Vaccine-induced monoclonal antibodies targeting circumsporozoite protein prevent Plasmodium falciparum infection". Journal of Clinical Investigation 124 (1): 140–4. doi:10.1172/JCI70349. PMC 3871238. PMID 24292709.

Bibliography

See also

External links

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