QIMR scientists to trial malaria vaccine

Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) are planning to commence a phase I clinical trial in Brisbane for a new malaria vaccine starting late this year or early next year.

The planned trial will test QIMR's new approach to vaccinating against malaria which involves injecting minute doses of Plasmodium falciparum, one of the protozoan parasites that cause malaria.

"All the other approaches to malaria vaccines are focusing on a single protein from the organism," said QIMR director Prof Michael Good "There are many challenges to that approach mainly because small molecules are very poorly immunogenic and the parasite changes its proteins all the time."

The planned trial follows preclinical and clinical work conducted by QIMR. In initial studies entire live parasites were injected into mice as well as four healthy human volunteers, who were treated a few days later with a malaria preventing drug to ensure they never caught the disease.

"We found from that protocol, that the individuals have a very strong immune response," said Good, who is also head of the QIMR's Molecular Immunology Group.

Since drugs would not normally be administered in a vaccine setting after vaccination, subsequent trials in mice used injections of the dead parasite, killed through a simple procedure of freezing and thawing. "This again induced a very good immune response," said Good, "so that's what we plan to do in humans now."

While details of the trial are still being determined, Good said it would probably involve half a dozen healthy human adult volunteers treated with small doses of parasites, starting at 100 and going up to 1000 or even 10,000.

Before the trial can start, Good said, that the products needed to made at GMP standards, and ethical approval obtained.

Currently, QIMR plans to grow the parasites and intends to transfer the technology to Q-Gen, its GMP facility. The trial will probably be conducted at QIMR's clinical trial company Q-Pharm.