Glaxo Malaria Vaccine Cuts Risk by Half

for at Least 15 Months, Study Says

By Simeon Bennett – Jan 13, 2011

GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s experimental malaria vaccine, already shown to cut the risk of children contracting the disease by half after 8 months, was equally effective after 15, a study showed.

Youngsters in Africa who got the shot, called Mosquirix, were 46 percent less likely to contract malaria than those who received a rabies vaccine, according to the study published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The findings suggest the London-based drugmaker may have succeeded where others have failed in developing the world’s first effective shot against the deadliest mosquito-borne disease. Glaxo expects to have the results of final-stage trials by late this year or early next, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty said in October.

“We’ve never had a malaria vaccine get this far in its development and continue to show such promise,” Robert Newman, director of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Programme, said in a telephone interview today. “It’s promising and encouraging.”

Malaria infected about 225 million people and killed about 781,000 in 2009, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa, the Geneva-based WHO said in December. That makes it the world’s third-deadliest infectious disease behind AIDS and tuberculosis.

Researchers including Philip Bejon, from the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kilifi, Kenya, tested the vaccine on more than 800 children between ages 5 and 17 months in Tanzania and Kenya. The children either received a rabies vaccine or Mosquirix with a so-called adjuvant designed to boost the effect.

New Analysis

An initial analysis, published in December 2008, showed the vaccine cut the number of children infected with malaria by 53 percent after 8 months. The new analysis found “no evidence of waning efficacy,” Bejon and colleagues wrote.

The most common adverse events were pneumonia, fits with fevers and stomach inflammation, with fewer events reported among children who received the malaria vaccine compared with those who got the rabies shot. The researchers are now studying the vaccine in 15,000 infants in seven countries.

Glaxo expects the cost of the vaccine, if successful, to be “the lowest practical cost sustainable over time,” Witty told reporters on a conference call in October. The drugmaker will “price it at the cost of manufacturing, with only a very small return, around 5 percent,” which Witty has pledged to deploy in research for more treatments of neglected tropical diseases.

The study was funded by Glaxo and the Bethesda, Maryland- based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which is in turn sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s richest charity.

Assuming results of the next trial are positive, Glaxo plans to seek regulatory approval for the shot in Europe, Stephen Rea, a spokesman, said in a telephone interview today. The WHO wants to wait for data on the effectiveness of the vaccine after 30 months, due in 2014, before it makes a policy recommendation on the vaccine, Newman said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net

January 10, 2011January 14, 2011

President Jonathan, I Can Hear You

Last week President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria presented what he referred to as “the plans” that his administration will be implementing in 2011.

The President posted on his Facebook page what he anticipates the budget to help Nigeria to accomplish. Among the many things he said, the one that interests me most is what appears to be Mr. Jonathan’s commitment to fight malaria.

This is what he wrote:

“As part of the budgetary allocation to the health sector are funds to establish scientific research institutes that will focus on areas that directly impact health care in Nigeria such as HIV, Malaria, Cholera, sickle cell anemia and Cancer.”

He said he will work with his administration to tap the creativity of Nigerian scientists in solving the country’s greatest health challenges because

“some of these diseases are peculiar to Africa; they may not be a priority to the research institutes of governmental and private pharmaceutical research industries of the West.”

I could not agree with the President any more. One of our goals at talkafrique is to promote the idea that African problems must be solved by Africans and also that politics must be about problems and solutions and not just signboards and slogans. As Gen. Collin Powell said,

“You can’t just have slogans; you can’t just have catchy phrases. You have to have an agenda”

I believe on this, President Jonathan is on the correct path.

Malaria was eradicated in the US and Canada about 5 to 6 decades ago. It is laughable for us to expect American corporations to focus on malaria research and development in such challenging economic times while such efforts could be expended in the development of drugs that target erectile dysfunction. Malaria, like some other diseases, is referred to as a ‘Neglected Disease’ for a reason. No financial consultant or market analyst will encourage a client to borrow money to develop anti-malaria drug, except on humanitarian grounds. We salute the few companies that continue to screen for anti-malaria drugs and vaccines.

To us as Africans, malaria is a pressing issue. A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is not just statistics

I hope that President Jonathan will stay true to his word. I will be checking his Facebook wall for updates. I will also be watching very carefully for what the Presidents of Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Botswana and the rest of our leaders have to offer.

Thanks for reading

October 11, 2010January 21, 2011

The Hero Mosquito in Sierra Leone

In 2008, Ian McLeod-McClean, a sex offender from Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom, fled to Sierra Leone after he was charged with abusing three girls. Mr. McLeod-McClean, 48, has just been deported to the UK after visiting a hospital in Sierra Leone after he was hit with malaria. Last week, at a court in Maidstone Crown, he admitted to 23 sex crimes against several girls. His sentence is due Oct 28.

But for the relentless effort of the hero mosquito, the sex offender Mr. McLeod-McClean would be hiding in Sierra Leone doing his own thing to other innocent girls. In an ideal world, we would wish that all mosquitoes will emulate this hero. Unfortunately, a child dies of malarial every 30 seconds. What does that translate to in a year?