The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the first malaria vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline's RTS,S. In placebo-controlled trials in over 15,000 children and infants, the vaccine reduced infection by 36% in children and by 28% in infants (Lancet 386, 31–45; 2015). Experts welcomed the landmark approval for what is the first ever vaccine to provide protection from a parasite. But, given the limited protection it affords, they will now have to tackle thorny questions about its cost-effectiveness and public health value. Over 20 antimalarial medicines are also in the clinic, shows a recent review of the evolution of the antimalarial pipeline (Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 14, 424–442; 2015).