Malaria sporozoitesFLICKR, NIAIDThe RTS,S vaccine has made headlines since it hit Phase 3 testing in 2009, including both promising results and setbacks. In October 2013, developer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced the most comprehensive analysis yet, which found that the vaccine cut the number of malaria cases by 39 percent in children 5 months to 17 months old, and by about 27 percent in 6- to 12-week-old infants—a resounding good-but-not-great result.
Still, the company said it would submit the vaccine for European regulatory approval, and last week (July 24), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) endorsed the RTS,S vaccine to immunize children in Africa who are 6 weeks to 17 months old.
“We are very much thrilled with the outcome,” Moncef Slaoui, the chair of GSK vaccines, told Science. “Child health in Africa will be transformed.”
However, the vaccine must still be approved by the regulatory agencies in individual countries, many of which have limited resources to devote to health-care costs. “It still faces hurdles before being rolled out in Africa, including winning agreement from governments and other funders that it is worth using, since it offers only partial protection,” The Globe and Mail reported.
The EMA’s ...
