BioNTech SE has begun human trials on a vaccine for malaria, a fresh test for the messenger RNA technology that powered the most successful immunizations against Covid-19.
(Bloomberg) — BioNTech SE has begun human trials on a vaccine for malaria, a fresh test for the messenger RNA technology that powered the most successful immunizations against Covid-19.
The first patient was dosed on Dec. 21, Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin said in an interview. The Phase 1 study will enroll 60 patients and use three different doses for a single vaccine candidate, the BioNTech CEO said. The Mainz, Germany-based company plans to evaluate different versions of the shot to see which one works best.
The malaria vaccine is one of many new shots BioNTech is testing on patients as the biotech company uses the proceeds from the Covid vaccine it developed with Pfizer Inc. to push forward a broad pipeline of experimental drugs. Rival Moderna Inc. has also said it will pursue a vaccine against malaria.
Malaria has long been a difficult target since the complexity of the parasites that cause it make it hard to create an effective vaccine. BioNTech’s shot will be designed to target several potential antigens in order to “identify the optimal candidate,” Chief Medical Officer Ozlem Tureci said in a statement.
The first vaccine for the disease, developed by GSK Plc, prevented only about 40% of malaria cases in a large study. A second shot, developed by researchers at the University of Oxford, is being tested now in a large, multicountry trial.
The disease killed about 619,000 people last year, mostly young children in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. BioNTech’s planned vaccine production site in Kigali, Rwanda will help produce the malaria shot, Sahin said.
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