GlaxoSmithKline publishes positive malaria vaccine study data

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the publication of positive final results from a large-scale phase III trial of its RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate.

The trial data, published in The Lancet, shows that the vaccine candidate helped protect children and infants from clinical malaria for at least three years after first vaccination.

Vaccination with RTS,S, followed by a booster dose administered 18 months after the primary schedule, reduced the number of cases of clinical malaria in children by 36 percent and in infants by 26 percent.

The findings suggest that substantial public health benefits could be provided by the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate in endemic regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Moncef Slaoui, chairman for GlaxoSmithKline's global vaccines business, said: "We are extremely encouraged that the results point to continued and significant public health benefit for those children whose lives are so disrupted by this awful disease."

Vaccines are an important business area for the company, as evidenced by its recent acquisitions of the Swiss vaccines firm GlycoVaxyn and the vaccines division of Novartis.