Serum Institute ships its first set of malaria vaccine doses to Africa

Serum Institute of India (SII) has shipped the first batch of its R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to Africa.

Around 43,200 doses of the vaccine were dispatched from India by SII on Monday. Approximately 163,800 doses have been allocated for the Central African Region (CAR). CAR countries will be followed by other African nations such as South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming days.

To date, Serum Institute of India has manufactured 25 million doses, with a capacity to scale up to 100 million doses annually. Sources indicated that while the vaccine would not be available in India immediately, it is likely to be available here in the future. "It is at least 2-4 years before it can be available in India," the source said.

 

The vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant. This is the second malaria vaccine to be authorised for use in children in malaria-endemic regions. The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine marks the culmination of 30 years of malaria vaccine research at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute.

Umesh Shaligram, executive director, R&D, SII, said that the vaccine shipment to Africa marks a significant milestone in the collective fight against malaria. “This is a significant step towards a world free from the burden of malaria.”

“The quality, affordable vaccines that will be produced through this partnership between Novavax and SII will prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths every year across the globe,” said Eric Garcetti, US ambassador to India.

The R21/Matrix-M received support from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the Wellcome Trust, and the European Investment Bank (EIB). It also received World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for use in children last year in October, followed by the announcement of the high efficacy of its Phase-III trial data results this year. This achievement was a step towards paving the way for the vaccination of children in populations most at risk.

“The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is a vital new tool to help stop the devastating health and economic impact of malaria on nearly half of the world’s population, including the tragic loss of 1,300 children every single day,” said John C. Jacobs, president and chief executive officer, Novavax.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, said, “The start of the distribution at large scale of this high efficacy, very cost-effective vaccine should mark a turning point in the battle against malaria.”

GSK’s Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccine (RTS,S/AS01E, tentatively branded Mosquirix), which Bharat Biotech will produce, will also initially go to African countries. The tech transfer of the vaccine started around 2021-22. The antigen RTS,S will be made by Bharat Biotech, while GSK will supply the adjuvant. GSK has developed the vaccine over 30 years.