THE WHO has received the legal go-ahead to develop a promising vaccine against malaria. Manuel Patarroyo, the Colombian scientist who developed the vaccine, last week signed a deal giving the WHO an exclusive worldwide licence to develop, make, distribute and sell the vaccine, known as SPf66.
In a trial of the vaccine on 600 children in Tanzania, sponsored by the WHO and other international organisations, SPf66 reduced the incidence of malaria by 31 per cent compared with a placebo. Results of further trials on infants in The Gambia and Thailand are due in mid-summer.
At a meeting this September, the WHO is to discuss the results and begin planning larger trials to show whether, the vaccine prevents people dying from malaria. The disease kills 2 million people each year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Negotiations are also under way with the Colombian government, which has offered to manufacture the vaccine in Colombia.
