GHANA BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO APPROVE OXFORD MALARIA VACCINE

Fri 14 Apr 2023:

A new malaria vaccine created by researchers at Oxford University has received regulatory approval from Ghana. According to the university, the West African nation is the first in the world to have authorized the use of the R21/Matrix-MTM serum.

The Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana, which oversees the country’s pharmaceutical industry, has approved the vaccine “for use in children aged five to 36 months, the age group at the highest risk of death from malaria.”

According to data from the Severe Malaria Observatory, Ghana, which accounts for 4.3% of cases in West Africa, is one of the 15 nations with the greatest global burden of malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that in 2021, the country had more than 5 million cases of malaria and more than 12,000 fatalities as a result.

The approval of the Oxford malaria vaccine, which was manufactured using Novavax’s adjuvant technology, has been hailed as a significant step forward in the global fight against the mosquito-borne disease.

“This marks a culmination of 30 years of malaria vaccine research at Oxford,” said Adrian Hill, chief investigator of the R21/Matrix-M program, as he applauded clinical trial partners in Africa.

Hill noted the vaccine has a production agreement with the Serum Institute of India for up to 200 million doses per year, and that the WHO is still evaluating its safety and effectiveness. The Oxford scientist stated that African regulators have become more proactive, recognizing the importance of prioritizing public health in their respective countries.

According to Oxford University, the “low-dose” R21/Matrix-M vaccine offers an economical choice for mass manufacture and distribution to African countries suffering from the devastating impacts of malaria due to its low cost and high scalability.

Several African nations, including Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania, conducted a 4,800-child phase III trial for the vaccine, according to reports of clinical studies in the UK, Thailand, and other countries.

The Serum Institute of India is preparing to produce between 100-200 million doses per year, with a vaccine factory being constructed in Accra, Ghana.

Each dose of R21 is expected to cost a couple of dollars.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, said: “Developing a vaccine to greatly impact this huge disease burden has been extraordinarily difficult.”

He added that Ghana, as the first country to approve the vaccine, represents a “significant milestone in our efforts to combat malaria around the world”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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