The vaccine, called R21/Matrix M has been called a world changer by researchers. The initiative is one of many aimed at combating the illness that claims more than 600,000 lives annually, the majority of them children in Africa. The development of vaccines has delayed by the malaria parasite’s complex structure and lifetime.
The World Health Organization (WHO) last year endorsed the first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, developed by British pharmaceutical giant GSK (GSK.L). However, the business’s ability to deliver the required number of doses has been hindered by a lack of funding and commercial potential. The Oxford vaccine, which has received regulatory approval for use in children aged 5 to 36 months, who are most at risk of dying from malaria, has a manufacturing edge because of an agreement to produce up to 200 million doses yearly with Serum Institute of India.
