Open Orphan PLC (AIM:ORPH, OTC:OPORF) said researchers at its hVIVO subsidiary inoculated the first group of volunteers as part of its first controlled human malaria infection challenge study.
The team will assess the standard of care antimalarial treatments against plasmodium malaria.
Following the completion of the evaluation, hVIVO will then be able to sign human challenge study contracts to assess the efficacy of new antimalarial drugs and vaccines.
There were 241mln malaria cases and 627,000 deaths from the disease in 2020.
“As such, we are pleased to have commenced this study to allow our clinical teams to better acquaint themselves with the recently established controlled human malaria infection model, ahead of using human challenge studies to test our clients' malaria products,” said Adrian Wildfire, hVIVO’s director of scientific & business strategy.
“Data resulting from such studies translates well into the field and malaria human challenge studies have been pivotal to the development of many of the novel drugs now entering late-phase trials."
The study will take place at hVIVO’s facilities in London. Work will be completed in the first quarter with a data read-out at some point in the following three months.