RTS,S/AS02A for malaria

Malaria prevention and treatment is becoming increasingly difficult as drug-resistant strains of parasites spread globally and affordable antimalarial drugs become ineffective. Therefore, there is a need for a safe and effective vaccine. In recent years, significant technological advances and an increase in funding for malaria vaccine research, including better public-private collaboration, have increased optimism that highly effective vaccines can be developed. RTS,S/AS02A is a novel pre-erythrocytic vaccine based on the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite surface protein. Among all candidate vaccines developed thus far, only the RTS,S/AS02A vaccine has consistently been demonstrated to be well tolerated and provide significant protective efficacy in challenge studies and clinical trials in malaria-endemic countries.