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The World Health Organization on Thursday added the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, developed by Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, to its list of prequalified vaccines.
In October 2023, the WHO had recommended its use for the prevention of malaria in children.
The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine prequalified by the WHO.
R21/Matrix-M
The R21/Matrix-M is a promising new malaria vaccine that recently received a recommendation
for use in children from the World Health Organization (WHO).
R21/Matrix-M is a subunit vaccine, meaning it contains specific protein fragments from the malaria parasite instead of the whole organism.
This makes it safer and more stable than traditional whole-organism vaccines.
The R21 component targets a protein on the surface of the parasite's "sporozoite" stage, the form injected by mosquitoes and the first to invade the human liver.
The Matrix-M component is an adjuvant, a substance that enhances the immune response to the vaccine.
It's a saponin-based adjuvant developed by Novavax and licensed to the Serum Institute of India for use in endemic countries.
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