PATH donates $2.3M to SBRI for novel antigen malaria vaccs

In a bid to further diversify the range of options available to malaria vaccine scientists, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and the  Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will collaborate to supply  previously-unused parts of the malaria parasite to vaccine developers.

Building on SBRI's work with its long-term research partner, the US  Military Malaria Vaccine Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of  Research, scientists will assess the potential of two dozen  recently-discovered malaria antigens. They will then select several of  those that show the greatest potential to stimulate immune responses.

Most malaria vaccine approaches rely on stimulating immunity to a  handful of known targets on the parasite. However, with more than 5,000  genes and thousands of potential antigenic targets for a vaccine, the  malaria parasite poses a particular challenge.