The R21 malaria vaccine: Spotlight on policy goals and pathways to African vaccine manufacturing

Abstract

Malaria impacts millions of lives, mostly in continental Africa, and especially so in the WHO African Region, where 233 million cases accounted for about 94% of global cases in 2022 [1].Progress in curbing malaria has somewhat plateaued since 2015 [2, 3] due to factors that include drug and insecticide resistance, poor availability of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), and socio-behavior factors [3].The approval of two new vaccines against malaria-RTS,S/AS01 vaccine in 2021 and more recently the R21/Matrix-M vaccine [3,4]-has reenergized the fight against malaria.These vaccines were developed with support from public sector and philanthropic partners, and with contributions from African scientists and communities.They have the potential for high impact and are remarkable additions to the toolkit of malaria control.