Safety and Immunogenicity of Pfs25-EPA/Alhydrogel®, a Transmission Blocking Vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum: An Open Label Study in Malaria Naïve Adults.

Transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) that target sexual stage parasite development could be an integral part of measures for malaria elimination. Pfs25 is a leading TBV candidate, and previous studies conducted in animals demonstrated an improvement of its functional immunogenicity after conjugation to EPA, a recombinant, detoxified ExoProtein A from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this report, we describe results of an open-label, dose-escalating Phase 1 trial to assess the safety and immunogenicity of Pfs25-EPA conjugates formulated with Alhydrogel®.

Non-apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) IgGs from Malian children interfere with functional activity of AMA1 IgGs as judged by growth inhibition assay.

Background: Apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) is one of the best-studied blood-stage malaria vaccine candidates. When an AMA1 vaccine was tested in a malaria naïve population, it induced functionally active antibodies judged by Growth Inhibition Assay (GIA). However, the same vaccine failed to induce higher growth-inhibitory activity in adults living in a malaria endemic area.