Overview
Antimalarial vaccine
COVID-19 vaccine
It has been two years since SARS-CoV-2 caused a global pandemic. During that time, various types of vaccine have been developed faster than expected and proved to be highly effective. However, due to the persistence of immunity and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, it is difficult to form herd immunity. Therefore, it will be a challenge to prepare an environment that allows rapid development of vaccines against new variants. SARS-CoV-2 infects human cells using the spike protein on the viral surface. Our laboratory is targeting this mechanism and hopes to show the availability of our methodology for malaria vaccine development to other infectious diseases including COVID-19.
Revitalizing global partnerships
We have been conducting the bilateral exchange projects related to malaria research for 10 years with the University of Oxford (no.1 in World University Rankings 2023) and Imperial College London (no.10), and have additionally started the project from 2020 with the University of Cambridge (no.3). Students are encouraged to participate in the international joint research with the world's top ranking universities. Dr. Yoshida and his colleagues are promoting the revitalization of global partnerships and pioneering unique vaccine research in a pharmaceutical research institute.
Malaria is an infectious disease mediated by Anopheles mosquitoes. It is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions, infecting approximately 220 million people annually, of which 450,000 die. Under such circumstances, RTS,S from British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was approved in 2021 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the first malaria vaccine. The ongoing issue is to improve the efficacy and the duration. Malaria parasites proliferate in the human body, and mosquitoes suck blood to spread the infection. Our laboratory focuses on each of these stages and aims to develop a vaccine that protects humans from infection and prevents transmission by mosquitoes. We hope to clarify the efficacy and mechanism of action in an animal model and realize clinical application.