Long-awaited vaccine brings hope for millions

Long-awaited vaccine against malaria

One of the world’s biggest challenges in medicine – the relentless destruction caused by malaria – might have finally met its match as GlaxoSmithKline announced this week that its most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate continued to protect young children and infants up to 18 months after vaccination. It could be available as early as 2015 if granted a positive scientific opinion by the EMA next year. The news made front page newspaper headlines in the UK, demonstrating how startling this news is in the context of the devastating stories and appeals we hear every year about the millions of cases of malaria across Africa, which lead to nearly 600,000 deaths annually, mainly of young children.

FDA trouble continues