http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010625/hl/malaria_2.html
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Monday
June 25 10:39 AM ET
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three major players in the quest to develop vaccines for
malaria have joined forces in a bid to speed the fight against a tropical
disease that has plagued humanity for eons and kills 2 million people annually,
officials said on Friday.
The private Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)
has formed an alliance with the European Commission (news
- web
sites)'s malaria vaccine program and a similar program at the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), the organizations said in a statement.
PATH's effort is boosted by a $50 million grant from the foundation created
by computer software mogul Bill Gates (news
- web
sites).
Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Most
of those who die are children in Africa, but it also claims victims in parts of
Asia and Latin America. Between 300 million and 500 million people are infected
annually.
Dr. Regina Rabinovich, director of PATH's Malaria Vaccine Initiative, said
the alliance would allow the pooling of information and cut down on unnecessary
duplication of efforts. She expressed optimism that the alliance would hasten
the development of vaccines and predicted one would be licensed in ''probably a
decade.''
``It hasn't created that sense of urgency that can be associated with a
newly emerging disease, but it's not something that we, with the scientific
tools that exist today, can ethically afford to ignore,'' Rabinovich said in an
interview. ''The tools are at hand. We can make this vaccine.''
The groups said they would work together to facilitate the testing and
manufacture of vaccine candidates and ensure their accessibility and
affordability in impoverished nations. A number of vaccine candidates are in
the developmental pipeline, but the one farthest along does not provide
long-lasting protection.
Malaria is known for developing resistance to current drug treatments.
Experts said only an effective vaccine would enable public health officials to
contain the disease.
Rabinovich said the three groups together will spend about $20 million
annually on vaccine development. She said the US government's National
Institutes of Health (news
- web
sites) also collaborates with the groups, providing another $28 million
annually to the cause.
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