The World Malaria Day theme this year is “End Malaria for Good.” The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, is fully committed to doing its part to achieve this goal through its comprehensive research program to: better understand the biology of malaria parasites and their mosquito vectors; examine how anti–malaria drug resistance and insecticide resistance develop and spread; support research to enhance the medical management of clinical malaria, especially severe malaria; identify and develop new tools to diagnose and treat malaria; develop a safe and effective vaccine to prevent malaria; and identify and pursue novel interventions and strategies designed to reduce or interrupt malaria transmission.

Given the spread of drug–resistant malaria, NIAID continues to support critical research to find new and effective anti–malaria drugs. The institute is providing product development support for four antimalarial drug concepts and participates in partnerships to accelerate malaria research and advance development of new interventions. One novel antimalarial drug, DSM265, given as a single dose in a Phase 2 clinical trial, cured volunteers infected with P. falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria infection. NIAID, in collaboration with its partners, is conducting preclinical development of a related compound, called DSM421, which persists in the body longer and is effective against both P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria. In addition, NIAID is planning to initiate clinical testing of a drug candidate that may reduce mortality from cerebral malaria, a major cause of death for African children.

Safe and effective vaccines are critical tools for future efforts to control, eliminate and, ultimately, eradicate malaria. NIAID is supporting the development of numerous malaria vaccine candidates, 10 of which are in clinical trials. One investigational vaccine, called PfSPZ, showed promising results in several small studies in 2016. It protected 6 of 11 people (55 percent) without prior malaria infection for more than a year; and provided extended protection against different malaria strains. The vaccine candidate also provided considerable protection among adults in Mali for the duration of the malaria season. Further testing of the PfSPZ vaccine is ongoing. In related work, live, purified malaria parasites from the same strain as PfSPZ, when delivered in high doses to individuals together with chloroquine antimalarial prophylaxis, elicited high levels of protection in a clinical trial, and are being further investigated.

Additionally, clinical testing is underway for a second–generation transmission–blocking vaccine, and a Phase 2 clinical trial to test an attenuated, genetically modified P. falciparum vaccine candidate is planned for later this year. NIAID also has begun a Phase 1 clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to provide broad protection against a range of mosquito–transmitted diseases, including malaria, and to hinder the ability of mosquitoes to transmit infection.