Malaria is a worldwide infectious disease, causing over 1M deaths annually. RTS,S (MosquirixTM), the world’s only licensed malaria vaccine targets the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and is only 27-46% effective.
A novel vaccine approach targets mosquito saliva components. Mosquito saliva is injected into patients along with malaria parasite. • Immunizing mice with antibodies against SG1L3, the lead mosquito salivary protein, showed substantial reduction of Plasmodium liver burden and parasitemia, when challenged with infected mosquito.
Intellectual property – A provisional patent application has been filed
Reference: Fikrig, Erol (2015) The Translation of Saliva Proteins into Tools to Prevent Vector-Borne Disease Transmission [PowerPoint presentation]. Keystone Symposia Meeting – The Arthropod Vector: The controller of Transmission.
