GlaxoSmithKline set to team up with initiative

GlaxoSmithKline are set to collaborate with a malaria vaccination initiative charity in Africa.

The partnership will see a medical trial – planned to be next month – involving 16,000 children in the continent.

Working alongside Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the programme is set to be conducted in Gabon, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania.

Vaccine researcher for GlaxoSmithKline, Joe Cohen, said: “This is probably going to be one of the largest studies in infants and in children in Africa.”

The Malaria Vaccine Initiative has so far spent $107 million (69.7 million pounds) on the project, with GlaxoSmithKline also spending $300 million so far, estimates it will spend up to $100 million more.

Preliminary trials have so far showed the vaccine was likely to be at least 30 per cent effective against mild malaria cases and approximately 50 per cent effective against severe malaria.

The news follows the company’s announcement that it, along with XenoPort, plans to withdraw and resubmit a New Drug Application requesting approval of Solzira for Restless Legs Syndrome.

Resubmission of the application is set to delay the receipt by XenoPort of $23 million in the aggregate from GlaxoSmithKline and Astellas Pharma.