Malaysian scientist develops malaria vaccine
US-based Malaysian scientist Dr. Betty Sim Kim Lee developed an experimental malaria vaccine with a 100% success rate.
The vaccine called PfSPZ is made from sporozoites (SPZ), a stage in the life cycle of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum (Pf).
Sim said all previous attempts to develop a malaria vaccine used just a handful of parasite proteins.
“The parasite has more than 5,000 proteins and we did not think that using one or two proteins would be adequate. We used the entire parasite as the vaccine,” she said to Malay Mail Online.
Despite the vaccine being hailed as a “pivotal success”, critics are still doubtful since most malaria scientists thought was impossible to manufacture a sporozoite vaccine that would meet regulatory agency standards.
“Our PfSPZ vaccine is based on strong scientific evidence so I was certain we could overcome the challenges. It feels good to know we were right!” she said.
“Before it can be licensed, there will be multiple trials in Africa, the US, Europe and, hopefully, Asia, to further establish the safety, tolerance level and protective efficacy of the vaccine,” she added.
The company hopes to have the vaccine licensed within three to five years.
Sim is the vice president of Sanari Inc. She leads the company with her husband Dr. Stephen Hoffman who is a tropical infectious diseases specialist and Sanaria’s CEO.
Sim grew up in Kota Baru and received her early education at SK Zainab and Sultan Ismail College. She joined science fairs in high school and even went to Kuala Lumpur for a national science fair.
She pursued her undergraduate and graduate studies at University Malaya. Sim moved to US after her PhD to pursue a post-doctorate in Molecular Biology in Harvard in 1984. She now lives in Maryland.
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
