The R21 malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University has received preliminary approval from Nigeria, according to the nation’s pharmaceuticals agency, which makes it the second nation to do so following Ghana last week.
Each year, the disease spread by mosquitoes claims the lives of more than 600,000 individuals, the majority of them are infants and children from Africa.
According to a 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) study on malaria, Nigeria, the country with the largest population on the continent, was the worst-affected country with 27% of global cases and 32% of global deaths.
While granting the license, the Agency also expressed the necessity for the clinical trial to be expanded to include a phase 4 clinical trial and pharmacovigilance research to be done in Nigeria, according to a statement from its director-general Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye.
Due to ongoing safety and efficacy evaluations by various regulatory agencies, including the WHO, it was unclear when the vaccine may be introduced in Nigeria or Ghana.