Experimental infection and protection against ... - TI Pharma

52 Chapter 2
Although this phase I trial is limited with respect to the size and generalizibility
to the target population, it met its objectives to outline a generalizable safety
profile. Specifically the direct comparison of the safety profile of different
adjuvants is valuable for future development of AMA1 and other malaria
vaccines. Furthermore, the malaria vaccine candidate AMA1 provides the
possibility of assessing functionality of the immune response by a parasite
growth inhibition assay. However, it must be noted that the growth inhibition
assay is not validated as a correlate of protection, and is as such a limited
predictor for efficacy.
With this study we have shown that the PfAMA1 vaccine combined with
different adjuvants, Alhydrogel, Montanide and AS02 provided distinct
reactogenicity profiles. All vaccine formulation were immunogenic at both
dosages. Growth inhibition results indicate that induction of functional immune
responses is probably dependent on adjuvant, underscoring the need for strong
immunopotentiators for malaria vaccines. Altogether, these results are
promising for a future development of a PfAMA1 malaria vaccine.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dominique Lemoine and Natalie Imbault for their comments and
contribution to the manuscript
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the European Malaria Vaccine
Initiative.