Gates Foundation ‘Deserves Credit’ for Contribution to Malaria Vaccine Candidate, Editorial Says
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "deserves huge credit for enabling" research on a pediatric malaria vaccine candidate "to go forward," a New York Times editorial says. While GlaxoSmithKline was working on a vaccine for the military and travelers, the Times says the company was "unwilling to undertake pediatric studies unless a financial partner could be found."
Although there is "no guarantee" the vaccine will be successful, "[e]ven a vaccine that is partially effective could save hundreds of thousands of lives a year," the editorial says. In addition, the vaccine "would bolster the gains already being made by insecticide-treated [nets]" and by malaria drugs, according to the editorial.
It is a "tribute to the power of charitable contributions to generate and sustain industrial interest" that the vaccine candidate "has gotten this far," the editorial says. The Times adds that the Gates Foundation "came to the rescue" by contributing $107.6 million "so far" to the project, noting that GSK has spent about $300 million and plans to spend an additional $50 million to $100 million to "complete the project." The editorial concludes, "If all goes well, the vaccine could be submitted for regulatory approval in 2011" (New York Times, 12/14).
