An effective vaccine against malaria is not only possible but likely.

The Malaria Vaccine Initiative works to accelerate vaccine development

Imagine a world free from malaria. It looks like this: countless families in Africa are spared the devastating loss of a child. Communities suffer less. Economies produce more.

Hope is driving our search for a malaria vaccine. Innovative partnerships and breakthrough science are helping us find one.

About the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) is working to accelerate the development of malaria vaccines and get them where they’re needed. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, close to 800,000 people—mostly children—die each year from Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous malaria parasite.

Our vaccine-development activities include evaluating vaccine approaches—supporting the development of those that are promising and weeding out the ones that no longer seem viable, to narrow the pipeline and focus resources. Our support to promising approaches and candidates includes conducting clinical trials. In addition, we are working to prepare the way for introducing a malaria vaccine into immunization programs, once one is available.

Innovative partnerships

Where traditional market forces have not been strong enough to drive the development of a malaria vaccine, we’re providing leverage in the form of human, financial, and technical resources that will make this lifesaving health intervention a reality. We work with government, academic, and industry partners to explore multiple vaccine concepts simultaneously and to systematically move the most promising candidates through the development process. Through these partnerships that span both the public and private sectors, we maintain a portfolio of preclinical, early clinical, and at least one advanced clinical project.

Visit the MVI website to learn more about vaccine research and development and see our portfolio.

Breakthrough science

What many once thought was impossible—developing a vaccine for human use against a parasite—is now likely. PATH and our partners are on track to accomplish an important goal of the malaria community, which includes developing a first-generation vaccine by 2015 that cuts the number of episodes of malaria in young children by about half, with protection lasting for more than one year.

A large-scale, phase 3 clinical trial of the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate in MVI's portfolio, called RTS,S, is underway. If the trial confirms earlier findings, the World Health Organization has indicated that a policy recommendation for RTS,S is possible as early as 2015, paving the way for implementation in countries.

Read more about our research and development strategies on the MVI website.

Paving the way for a vaccine

With a malaria vaccine moving so close to reality, we’re also working with countries in Africa to ensure that a successful vaccine can be used as soon as it is approved. To help policymakers with decisions on vaccine use, we've developed a decision-making framework that's been adopted by more than 30 countries. In addition, our advocacy fellowship program trains malaria researchers from several countries as "policy champions" who can advocate for critical support to bring a successful vaccine directly to the children who need it.

Read more about our advocacy efforts and the Malaria Vaccine Advocacy Fellowship on the MVI website.

Photos, from top: PATH, John-Michael Maas/Darby Communications.