MIMVaC-Africa Second Annual Meeting
MIMVaC-Africa consortium held its second annual meeting on 17-18 January 2023. Thanks to the recent decrease in COVID-19 restrictions, this meeting was possible on a face-to-face basis, for the first time ever since the start of the project in February 2020. The meeting was hosted by the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (EKUT) at the Institut für Tropenmedizin, Reisemedizin und Humanparasitologie, Tübingen, Germany.
MIMVaC-Africa (A multilateral initiative to foster the clinical development of effective malaria vaccine candidates in Africa) is an EDCTP-funded consortium coordinated by Dr Sodiomon B. Sirima from the Groupe de Recherche Action en santé (GRAS), Burkina Faso. This consortium gathers leading vaccine researchers, companies and clinical trialists from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, with the aim of accelerating the development of highly effective malaria vaccines that meet the goals set by the WHO Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap.
This annual meeting brought together more than 35 delegates including members of the Project Steering Committee, sites’ key staff members, members of the External Independent Scientific Advisory Group and EDCTP Senior Project officer Dr Michelle Helinski. During two days, participants discussed the progress made in the project implementation, the timelines, the challenges and opportunities and the way forward.
So far, the consortium has made progress toward the achievement of its objectives. For instance, the baseline sero-epidemiology study is initiated at all sites, the CHMI trials preparation are almost complete and enrollment starting in 2023, and the discussions around the phase IIb field trial are well advanced.
The upcoming year is critical but the consortium remains confident that this challenge is achievable.