The University of Oxford and ReciBioPharm, the biologics division of Recipharm, have expanded their ongoing collaboration to manufacture two blood-stage malaria vaccine candidates — R78C and RH5.1 — for Phase 1/2 clinical trials. The partnership builds on a relationship dating back to 2016 and marks the sixth malaria vaccine candidate delivered under the alliance.
ReciBioPharm is providing drug substance, drug product, and large-scale fill and finish services for both candidates. While R78C was initially produced by ReciBioPharm, the CDMO is now also handling RH5.1, which had previously been manufactured by another contractor. These efforts will support increased vial demand for upcoming trials conducted by Oxford’s Draper Lab.
The partnership plays a key role in advancing the University’s malaria vaccine pipeline. “This collaboration with ReciBioPharm has been instrumental in accelerating the development of our malaria vaccine portfolio,” Simon Draper, professor of vaccinology and translational medicine at Oxford, said in a statement. “It supports our shared mission to eradicate malaria altogether.”
According to the World Health Organization, malaria caused more than 600,000 deaths in 2022, with the majority occurring in children under five in Africa. Oxford and ReciBioPharm aim to help address this burden by advancing scalable vaccine solutions from lab to clinic.
“Our ability to deliver drug substance and drug product for larger scales under GMP conditions makes us a strong partner for accelerating vaccine candidates from lab to clinic,” Recipharm CEO Greg Behar said in a statement.
Earlier this year, ReciBioPharm was awarded a three-year grant from the Gates Foundation to support the global deployment of RNA continuous manufacturing technologies to low- and middle-income countries. The grant will enable worldwide implementation of an RNA continuous manufacturing platform and Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) — developed through an MIT project funded by the FDA — as well as predictive analytics software.