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Making a vaccine for malaria is challenging because its associated parasite, Plasmodium, contains a protein that inhibits production of memory T-cells, which protect against previously encountered pathogens. If the body can't generate these cells, a vaccine is ineffective. But scientists recently tried a new approach using an RNA-based platform.  [...]

The team's breakthrough could save hundreds of thousands of lives, particularly in developing nations. In 2019 alone, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria and 409,000 deaths worldwide. Of those deaths, 94% were in Africa, with children being the most vulnerable.

"It affects societies and populations that have the least amount of resources and expertise to manage these infections well," Bucala told The Academic Times. "We need new vaccines, and we need more tools."

Novartis Pharmaceuticals and the National Institutes of Health funded the work. [...]

[R]ather than an mRNA platform, Bucala and Geall use a self-amplifying saRNA platform. The key benefit of the latter is that it is effective at much lower doses because it can rapidly produce copies of itself inside the cell. 

"For saRNA, one can potentially make a million doses of vaccine with a couple liters of synthetic production," Bucala said. "It's much more efficient than the base-protected mRNA vaccines."

The proposed saRNA vaccine tells the body to create the troublesome PMIF protein, generates antibodies against it and naturally produces the necessary memory T-cells, as Bucala had hoped.

"We thought we could combine RTS,S with a PMIF vaccine, but the mouse studies seem to suggest that just immunizing with PMIF is sufficient," Bucala highlighted. "That's how striking the results were."

Bucala and Geall have placed their vaccine in the hands of the Oxford University institution that facilitated the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. It is one of the only places in the world that is doing phase 1 studies in malaria, meaning researchers infect human volunteers with the disease after immunizing them.

"This is not in humans yet," Bucala noted, "but they are the group that can put it into humans, I think, best. We are doing those studies this year."

Beyond the saRNA technology's use for the malaria vaccine, Bucala believes it is an ideal method for immunization design in the future, including for COVID-19 prevention, because of its dual low cost and high yield. He says it could reach far and wide. 

"The current mRNA approach is an important step in that direction," he said. "But we are going to, I believe, need to do better. I hope that the saRNA opens that platform."

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