Malaria vaccines

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Eradication of malaria remains one of the main aims of medicine. Despite progress in malaria treatment, mortality rate remains high, especially in the poorest parts of the world. Therefore, prevention through vaccines is fundamental and recent approval of the first effective vaccine reinforced this assumption. However, since the parasite cycle is composed of three stages, different types of vaccine targeting stage-specific antigens shall be developed. Moreover, the beneficial effect on vaccinated subjects can be tuned using compositions targeting different stages.

Area covered

We analyzed the malaria vaccine patent landscape describing the most significant patents published after 2016, classified according to the different parasite stages targeted focusing on selected protein antigens or epitopes. We searched ‘malaria vaccine’ on Patentscope and Espacenet.

Expert Opinion

Pre-erythrocytic vaccines were boosted by RTS,S approval, but its partial efficacy, limited to sporozoites, calls for compositions active against other disease stages. In particular, multi-antigen vaccines could be more effective than single-stage ones, as they would activate an immune response similar to that acquired in endemic regions. Furthermore, vaccine storage is another factor to be considered given the climate of the areas where malaria is widespread. More advanced technologies can lead to more effective and safer vaccines.

KEYWORDS:

• Antibody
• antigen
• immune response
• malaria
• vaccine

Article highlights

• Malaria prevention is key to disease eradication.

• Malaria vaccines can be classified according to the life cycle of the plasmodium.

• The different mechanisms of action of vaccines are important in regulating the immune response in vaccinated subjects.

• Advanced technologies would support the development of more effective and safer vaccines.

• Multi-antigen vaccines can trigger an immune response similar to that acquired in endemic areas.

Acknowledgments

The PhD fellowship of Michael Quagliata was funded by the “Progetto Ministeriale Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022” (58503_DIPECC-C.U.P.B96C17000200008).

Declaration of Interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions statement

All authors contributed to search the literature and write the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.