Preclinical trial with experimental malaria vaccine shows promise

Posted by Craig Clarke 
on Aug 12, 2013
 
Tropical disease researcher Stephen Hoffman has spent the past decade working on a malaria vaccine made from weakened parasites. Two years ago, the first test of this vaccine in people failed. 
Now, Hoffman has evidence that his idea might just work. Hoffman and collaborators report that when given in a new way, their experimental vaccine protected 12 of 15 volunteers from malaria infection, including all six receiving the most doses. Those numbers are tiny. But 100% protection is the best result yet in the long and frustrating effort to develop a malaria vaccine.

The results were published in the journal Science.

 

 
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