PUNE, INDIA — The news last year that the world's leading experimental malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, was showing early promise in large-scale phase 3 testing reinvigorated the scientific community in its quest to control the devastating disease, which kills more than 1.2 million people globally each year according to the latest estimates (Lancet, 379, 413–431, 2012). But, in addition to developing products such as RTS,S that protect against the clinical manifestations of malaria, researchers also hope to create vaccines that disrupt the parasite's life cycle. To that end, two Seattle-based nonprofits have partnered with India's Gennova Biopharmaceuticals to help make such a transmission-blocking vaccine a reality.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony here at the Pune International Biotech Park on 30 January, officials from PATH's Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and Gennova gathered to inaugurate a $7.9 million facility dedicated to manufacturing vaccines. PATH put up $3.5 million for the newly launched Gennova Vaccine Formulation Center, with the remaining money pledged by Gennova. The Indian drugmaker will also provide the expertise to support the facility's construction and operation. The IDRI brings its pipeline of adjuvants to the table.
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