Sanaria collaborators at Seattle Children’s Research Institute report on safety and efficacy of early arresting, non-replicating, genetically attenuated malaria sporozoite vaccine.

In a publication in Science Translational Medicine, Sean Murphy, Stefan Kappe and colleagues at Seattle Children’s Research Institute (SCRI) report the safety and efficacy against controlled human malaria infection of the administration by mosquito bite of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) parasites attenuated by deletion of three genes.  These genetically attenuated triple knockout parasites arrest early in the liver stage of development and do not replicate. SCRI and Sanaria have been working on these and other genetically attenuated parasites jointly under a collaborative research agreement. This study further establishes the safety and potential efficacy of genetically attenuated sporozoites as vaccine candidates.  

Sanaria is most excited to be working with SCRI on the next generation of such parasite vaccines, which are late arresting, replication competent (LARC). The first, Sanaria® PfSPZ-LARC2 Vaccine, a late arresting double knockout, has now been manufactured at Sanaria and initiation of clinical testing is planned for late 2022 or early 2023.  

The publication can be accessed by following this link.