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Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India has shipped its first R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine consignment to Africa. Developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Novavax, this vaccine is the second malaria vaccine authorized globally for children in malaria-endemic regions. The first vaccine is from GSK, including supply agreements with Bharat Biotech.
NEW DELHI: Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India has shipped its first R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine consignment to Africa.
Developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Novavax, this vaccine is the second malaria vaccine authorized globally for children in malaria-endemic regions. The first vaccine is from GSK, including supply agreements with Bharat Biotech.
Adar Poonawalla, and the Ambassador of the United States of America to India, Eric Garcetti flagged off the first consignment of R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine doses.
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The initial consignment is heading to the Central African Republic (CAR), with subsequent deliveries planned for South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming days. Of the 1,63,800 doses of the vaccine allocated for the CAR region, 43,200 doses were dispatched from SII’s Pune facility, on Monday.
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine received a recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for use in children last year in October, followed by the announcement of its high efficacy of its Phase 3 Trial data results this year.
The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine recommended by WHO, following the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which received a WHO recommendation in 2021.
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Both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children and, when implemented broadly, are expected to have a high public health impact. This achievement was a step towards paving the way for vaccination of children in populations most at risk.
It took 30 years of research at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute to develop the R21/Matrix-M vaccine. The vaccine is easily deployable, cost effective and affordable, and has the potential to save millions of lives every year.
GSK’s Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccine (RTS,S/AS01E, tentatively branded Mosquirix), which Bharat Biotech will produce, will also initially go to African countries. The tech transfer of the vaccine started around 2021-22. The antigen RTS,S will be made by Bharat Biotech, while GSK will supply the adjuvant. GSK has developed the vaccine over 30 years.
