Initial Study of Malaria Vaccine Pfs25-EPA/Alhydrogel(Registered Trademark)

Malaria Clinical Trial

Official title: Open Label Phase 1 Study in Malaria Naive Adults of the Safety and Immunogenicity of Pfs25-EPA/Alhydrogel, a Transmission Blocking Vaccine Against Plasmodium Falciparum

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Background:

• The malaria vaccine Pfs25-EPA/Alhydrogel may help block malaria parasites from developing in mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites a vaccinated person, the vaccine should prevent parasites from developing in the mosquito. As a result, the mosquito will not spread malaria to the next person it bites. However, the vaccine will not directly prevent people from getting sick with malaria. Researchers want to test the safety of and response to this vaccine.

Objectives:

• To test the safety of the malaria vaccine Pfs25-EPA/Alhydrogel.

Eligibility:

• Healthy volunteers between 18 and 50 years of age.

Design:

• Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, and blood tests.

• They will be assigned to a study group to have either two or three doses of the vaccine. Participants will have checkups after each dose of vaccine,

• The additional doses will be given 2 months or 2 and 4 months after the first vaccine.

• Participants will have regular blood tests to check the level of the response to the vaccine.

• They will be followed for up to 1 year after the last vaccine to have any additional tests as needed.

Clinical Trial Description

A vaccine to interrupt malaria transmission would be a valuable tool for local elimination or eradication of this disease. Pfs25, a surface antigen of ookinetes in the mosquito stage of P. falciparum, is a lead candidate for a malaria transmission blocking vaccine. Recombinant Pfs25 has been conjugated to Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExoProtein A (EPA), and adjuvanted with Alhydrogel(Registered Trademark). This open label, dose escalating Phase 1 study in malaria naive adults, conducted at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Immunization Research (CIR) in Baltimore, Maryland, will determine initial safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine given on a 2-dose,3-dose, or 4-dose schedule. Thirty (30) volunteers will be enrolled, with 5 receiving the low dose (8 micro g of conjugated Pfs25), 5 receiving the middle dose (16 micro g of conjugated Pfs25), and 20 receiving the high dose (47 micro g of conjugated Pfs25). The high dose group will receive either 2, 3 or 4 doses of vaccine, on a 0, 2, 4 and 10 month vaccination schedule. Volunteers will be followed for 12 months following the last vaccination. Safety outcomes will be local and systemic adverse events (AEs). Immunogenicity outcomes will be antibody responses as measured by ELISA, transmission blocking in a standard membrane feeding assay, and B and T cell responses. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Malaria

• NCT number: NCT01434381
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: August 2011
• Completion date: August 2013