Global health R&D at work in Maine
The Hallowell-based nonprofit MCD Global Health is a key implementing partner of an initiative on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea that carried out clinical trials of a promising new malaria vaccine. Unlike existing malaria vaccines—called sub-unit vaccines—that use a specific protein from the malaria parasite to induce an immune response, the vaccine candidate, PfSPZ, is a whole-parasite vaccine, meaning it uses a deactivated full malaria parasite to maximize the spectrum of the immune response it produces. The vaccine received fast track status from US Food and Drug Administration, which will enable it to receive expedited review once it completes clinical development.