In a world first, the Sanaria PfSPZ malaria vaccine has been shown to protect expectant mothers from malaria before and during pregnancy.
Malaria vaccine breakthrough for pregnant women
29 August 2024
In a world first, the Sanaria PfSPZ malaria vaccine has been shown to protect expectant mothers from malaria before and during pregnancy.
Recently published findings in the The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal from a three-armed study in Mali in 2018-2021 on administering a malaria vaccine to women anticipating pregnancy show that those receiving the vaccine experienced significant efficacy against malaria infection and clinical malaria over two years, without the need for a booster dose. An exploratory analysis of women who went on to conceive during the study showed significant protection from malaria during pregnancy.
The study was led by investigators at the Malaria Research and Training Center in Bamako, Mali; the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; and Sanaria Inc.
This latest advancement comes at a time of increasing momentum and innovation in malaria prevention and is particularly significant for its focus on pregnant women, who have historically been excluded from clinical trials due to safety concerns. Malaria infection during pregnancy poses substantial risks to mothers, their unborn children and newborns, and can result in complications including miscarriage, stillbirth and maternal mortality.
To date, there have been no preventive medicines for women in their first trimester of pregnancy, and only one antimalarial medicine has been recommended by the World Health Organization for use in the first trimester to treat cases of uncomplicated malaria. These limited options leave pregnant women at risk of contracting and developing severe malaria, at a time when their immune systems are already more susceptible to disease.
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Malaria Consortium's Technical Director, Katherine Theiss-Nyland, commented, "These research findings open the door for the malaria vaccine to protect women at a critically vulnerable time during pregnancy, which will benefit both women and their new babies. Clinical trials in pregnancy are notoriously difficult, and this well-designed study offers insights into the safety and effectiveness of vaccination for women of reproductive age. This is a major step forward in addressing the real-world health needs of pregnant women in malaria-endemic settings."
The results of the Sanaria PfSPZ vaccine follow another recent development in malaria prevention, control and treatment. A pioneering study led by the Safety of Antimalarials in the FIrst TRimEster of pregnancy consortium (SAFIRE) launched earlier this year in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Mali is testing the safety, tolerability, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of antimalarial medicines in pregnant women. Understanding which antimalarials are effective in early pregnancy could be transformative for women of reproductive age, offering greater protection to women and their unborn children.
The Sanaria PfSPZ vaccine and SAFIRE trial mark another step forward towards achieving malaria elimination. Together with the RTS,S and R21 malaria vaccines already being rolled out in a number of endemic countries, and alongside the existing arsenal of malaria interventions and medicines, communities living in low- and middle- income countries -- particularly women and children under five -- have a greater chance of protection from this disease.
