The central government has granted licenses to five firms for the manufacture and commercialization of India’s first indigenous recombinant multi-stage malaria vaccine, AdFalciVax.

The central government has granted licenses to five firms for the manufacture and commercialization of India’s first indigenous recombinant multi-stage malaria vaccine, AdFalciVax, developed by the Regional Centre Bhubaneswar of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Licenses for the manufacture and commercialization of the malaria vaccine have been given to Indian Immunologicals Limited, TechInvention Lifecare Private Limited, Panacea Biotec Limited, Biological E Limited, and Zydus Lifesciences.
This vaccine is designed to prevent Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans and reduce community transmission of the parasite. Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite (responsible for the most fatal form of malaria) and is difficult to control.
The pre-clinical validation of this technology was carried out in collaboration with ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), another constituent institute of ICMR, and the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, an autonomous research institute under the Department of Biotechnology.

AdFalciVax: Recombinant multi-stage malaria vaccine

AdFalciVax is a recombinant malaria vaccine (created using genetic engineering). This vaccine uses Lactococcus lactis (a genetically engineered food-grade bacterial host).
Fragments of DNA of the malaria parasite (Plasmodium) are inserted into Lactococcus lactis (a safe bacterium often used in dairy fermentation).
This genetically modified bacterium acts as a bio-factory for the production of malaria antigens.

Multi-stage malaria vaccine:

Existing malaria vaccines such as RTS, S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M are single-stage vaccines, i.e., they target the pre-erythrocytic/sporozoite stage. The sporozoite stage is when an infected female mosquito injects sporozoites (infectious cells of the Plasmodium parasite) into the skin of a mammalian host.
AdFalciVax is a multi-stage vaccine, i.e., it targets two major stages of the Plasmodium parasite’s life cycle:

Pre-erythrocytic/sporozoite stage

Erythrocytic/blood stage: when the parasite infects red blood cells. (Only a few sporozoites leave the skin, enter the bloodstream, and reach the liver).
AdFalciVax targets the parasite even before it enters the bloodstream, thereby stopping the infection at the transmission stage. Thus, the AdFalciVax vaccine not only protects the vaccinated person from malaria but also reduces community transmission.

About Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite, transmitted through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. There are five species of Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria in humans, and among them, two parasite species (‘P. falciparum’ and ‘P. vivax’) are more dangerous.
After reaching the liver, the parasites develop and infect red blood cells.
According to WHO, in the African region in 2023, 94% of global malaria cases and 95% of malaria deaths were recorded. Five countries - Nigeria (26%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (13%), Uganda (5%), Ethiopia (4%), and Mozambique (4%) - accounted for about 52% of global malaria cases.
Since 2015, nine countries have been certified malaria-free, including Egypt in 2024.

About India

The number of high-burden states has reduced from 10 to 2 (Mizoram and Tripura).
Medium-burden status has emerged in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have moved into the low-burden category.
Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry have achieved zero status and are eligible for sub-national malaria elimination verification.