In vivo models

Informing development decisions around blood-stage antigens

The development of a sensitive in vivo human challenge model is needed to evaluate blood-stage antigens as vaccine constituents so that development decisions do not rely solely on performance in an in vitro bioassay.

The development of a qualified human experimental challenge model capable of reliably measuring an in vivo functional impact of blood-stage candidates would contribute greatly to the malaria vaccine development field.

The use of this model to prioritize blood-stage candidates and to inform development decision-making could pay huge dividends over the long term, returning significant savings of time as well as of human and financial resources.

This tool would also directly contribute to our understanding of the significance of in vitro humoral assays, such as the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and growth inihibition assay (GIA) and whether in vivo effects might still be observed in the absence of currently measurable immune responses.