Malaria vaccine plant takes a gamble

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (Reuters) - In a nondescript office park tucked between a hospital and a strip mall thrive hundreds of thousands of the most infectious malaria-carrying mosquitoes ever born.

They will be dissected for the motherlode that they carry -- baby malaria parasites, fodder for a new malaria vaccine.

The insects' suburban Maryland home is owned by Sanaria Inc., which cut the ribbon on Friday on its new facility. Founder and chief executive officer Dr. Stephen Hoffman is taking a gamble that he can do what has been impossible -- make a vaccine against malaria.

"We know it is going to work," Hoffman says as he offers a tour of the 23,500-square-foot (2,183-sq-metre) building. "I am quite confident and I am staking my career on it."

Malaria, caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes, kills more than 1 million people every year and makes 300 million seriously ill -- mostly young children in Africa.

Experts agree that a vaccine is the best way to fight the disease, but this has proven near-impossible. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite has a complex life cycle inside mosquitoes and the human body, which helps it evade the immune system.

Last week GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported that its experimental vaccine had protected 65 percent of infants from infection, but it reduced illness by just 35 percent after six months.

In contrast, Hoffman's vaccine has been shown to provide more than 90 percent protection against malaria, lasting for at least 10 months.