Malaria Vaccine Candidate’s Success Requires ‘Help of Many Partners,’ Opinion Piece Says
GlaxoSmithKline has "devote[d] 25 years of research and more than $300 million of shareholders' capital to develop a malaria vaccine" because it was the "right thing to do," Jean Stephenne, president and general manager of GSK, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.Stephenne writes that two studies published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S -- which was developed by GSK with support from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- reduced malaria incidence among children by more than 50% in two Phase II field trials and can be administered safely with other routine childhood immunizations. He adds that these "positive results" will "help pave the way for the pivotal Phase III efficacy study" and "could lead to regulatory filing in 2011."
Although developing the vaccine candidate created "little opportunity for profit" because it is "only relevant in some of the world's poorest countries," a successful malaria vaccine could "potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives and avert billions of dollars in economic losses," Stephenne writes. He adds that partnerships were "crucial" to the development of RTS,S and that GSK's current partners "have helped shoulder some of the financial risks" involved in developing the vaccine candidate. GSK is committed to "making vaccines available to all those who need them," Stephenne writes, adding that the company has "pledged that price will not be a barrier to the vaccine's implementation." The global community "need[s] to be creative in ensuring that all lifesaving vaccines reach those who need them most," he writes, adding that GSK will "need the help of many partners" to distribute the vaccine and to "ensure that funding and on-the-ground infrastructure are in place to allow swift uptake."
Although the "good news is that in recent years the global community has set up new, effective mechanisms for financing vaccines for the poorest," the "challenge" will be to "design a financing mechanism for malaria and to integrate it with malaria control programs and pediatric immunizations," Stephenne writes. He adds that "during these tough economic times, we must resist calls to cut back on investments in global health, which are crucial to saving lives and promoting economic growth." Stephenne writes that the global community is "up to the challenge" of developing and disseminating "needed vaccines during difficult economic times," concluding, "For the sake of Africa's children, we must" (Stephenne, Wall Street Journal, 12/17). This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
