PATH is funding new research at Austria's Intercell into its adjuvant IC31 in combination with recombinant malaria antigen from the National Institutes of Health to determine its effectiveness against malaria in animal studies. "The development of a malaria vaccine is a great challenge and needs the combination of the best vaccine components available today," explains Intercell's Chief Scientific Officer Alexander von Gabain. "The diversity, complexity, and different life stages of the malaria parasite require an optimal choice of antigens and adjuvants in order to deliver a protective vaccine." Malaria kills one million to three million people each year.
"The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative is very excited about the possibilities that this opportunity presents for the field, as adjuvants have been identified as a critical gap in the development of a malaria vaccine by donors and international agencies," said Christian Loucq, MD, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. "Any time that we are able to find and evaluate novel adjuvants that can be applied to malaria vaccine development, we take another step toward our goal of developing a safe and effective vaccine for children in Africa and toward the long-term goal of eradicating malaria."
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