The First Malaria Vaccine Is Recommended for Children

In October 2021, the World Health Organization endorsed the RTS,S vaccine for widespread administration to children living in areas with moderate to high transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Sold under the brand name Mosquirix, it became the first malaria vaccine recommended by the organization for widespread use. The recommendation followed decades of clinical investigations, during which researchers had sought to construct an immunization that could interrupt the complex life cycle of the malaria parasite before it successfully infected the human liver.

The foundation of RTS,S was created in 1987 by scientists at the pharmaceutical company now known as GSK. Their work was carried forward in partnership with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the United States and received financial backing from the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative alongside the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. By utilizing recombinant genetic technology, researchers combined fragments of the malaria parasite outer protein with surface antigens derived from the hepatitis B virus, assembling virus-like particles that provoked high antibody levels when bolstered by a specialized chemical adjuvant.