LARC-Tu

Phase 1 Study to investigate the Safety and Efficacy of the Genetically Attenuated Plasmodium falciparum Sporozoite Vaccine PfSPZ-LARC2 Vaccine

01.01.2025 bis 31.12.2027

Currently the world is still waiting for an highly protective vaccine against malaria – for the population in endemic countries and for travellers. The most promising malaria vaccination strategies are based on cryopreserved, live attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) that achieve durable, high level protective efficacy against malaria parasite infection. During the past years, we have shown that immunization with pharmaceutical-grade, cryopreserved PfSPZ administered under in vivo chloroquine-chemoattenuation (PfSPZ-CVac) induces 100% protection against experimental P. falciparum infection (controlled human malaria infection – CHMI) in malaria-naïve adults (9 out of 9 vaccinated volunteers) more than 2 months following last immunization. In a similar study, with a simplified immunisation regimen administering chloroquine concomitantly only on the days of immunisation, 77% of the volunteers were protected (10 out of 13 vaccinated volunteers) against challenge with a P. falciparum strain that is heterologous to the immunogen.
This current project aims to develop now a new generation of live attenuated PfSPZ – attenuated through genetic deletion, waiving the use of chemoprophylaxis and irradiation and thus, driving the development more towards a product for use in the target population in malaria endemic regions.