Currently, the best available prevention of malaria requires oral dosing of antimalarial tablets. Although effective, these oral tablets lead to poor drug absorption, gastrointestinal side effects, pill fatigue and treatment discontinuation, highlighting the need for long-acting regimes.

This new long-lasting “chemical vaccine” could radically change the management of malaria, leading to better patient compliance, a reduced burden on healthcare systems and a lower rate of people who contract the disease.

The study is funded by a prestigious International Science Partnerships Fund from the Royal Society and led by Dr Alejandro Paredes from Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with Professor Diogo Rodrigo de Magalhães Moreira from the Fiocruz Institute, Brazil and Dr Herminio Cossa from the Manhiça Health Research Center, Mozambique.

Malaria, a disease transmitted to humans by mosquito bites, is the most threatening parasitic disease globally. Latest reports indicate that 263 million people were infected in 2023 leading to 597,000 deaths, of which 95% occurred in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. Tragically, children under five paid the highest malaria toll, accounting for 76% of malaria deaths in the Region.

While vaccines for falciparum malaria (the deadliest malaria parasite that is responsible for the most human malaria) are available for children, another variety of the disease, vivax malaria is considered a neglected disease.

The WHO and United Nations are urging the research community to innovate in the development of novel alternatives to prevent and treat the disease, emphasising on prophylactic regimes.

Prophylaxis of malaria is currently achieved through oral tablets indicated to vulnerable populations and people travelling to endemic areas, where healthcare coverage is often limited.

Dr Alejandro Paredes, Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast and Lead on the study, explains: “Long-acting medications have radically changed the management of many diseases, simplifying prophylactic regimes, and replacing the need for oral medications.

“Our research seeks to remove the need for frequent administration of oral tablets and generate long-acting dosing technologies that will be able to provide malaria prevention for months after a single administration. Crucially, this would increase user compliance and positively impact directly on the lives of people living in communities threatened by malaria.”

Media

Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk