ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03521973Updated Oct 7, 2021

Safety, Tolerability and Protective Efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine in Gabonese Children

A Phase 2 interventional study of PfSPZ Vaccine and Normal Saline in Malaria, sponsored by Sanaria Inc.. Completed at 1 site in Gabon. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 12 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-10-07.

Sponsored by Sanaria Inc. · Phase 2, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was May 2021, 5 years 5 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
200
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
1 Year to 12 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is a single site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The trial will assess the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy (VE) of PfSPZ Vaccine in Gabonese children that are naturally exposed to malaria parasites. Healthy children aged 1- 12 years living in the surrounding areas of Lambaréné and/or Fougamou Province in Gabon will be eligible for participation.

Read the detailed description

The trial will be performed in 200 healthy Gabonese children, recruited across three age-strata: 7-12, 3-6 and 1-2 years (12-35 months). Within each age-stratum, volunteers will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive three doses via direct venous inoculation (DVI) of either PfSPZ Vaccine (0.9x10\^6) or normal saline (NS) on days 0, 7 and 28 respectively; a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 100 volunteers are included in each of these age-strata.

In total, approximately 133 children will receive PfSPZ Vaccine and approximately 67 children will receive placebo. Randomization will be stratified by age-stratum, using permuted blocks of randomized size (3, 6, or 9). The start of inclusion into each age-stratum will be staggered, such that immunization of the first 3-6-year-olds will not commence until two weeks after start of immunization in the first 7-12-year-olds, and immunizations in the first 1-2-year-olds will not commence until two weeks after start of immunization in the first 3-6-year-olds. All volunteers will receive presumptive treatment with artemether-lumefantrine two weeks prior to final immunization (day 14). All volunteers will receive presumptive treatment with age-standardized 3-day course of oral artemether-lumefantrine (AL) \~two weeks prior to first immunization and again two weeks prior to final immunization.

02

Conditions studied

  • Malaria

Keywords

  • Plasmodium falciparum
  • PfSPZ Vaccine
03

In context

Malaria

1,184 studies on the registry are indexed under Malaria; 79 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 200 is below the median of 252 across 937 interventional studies indexed under Malaria.

Browse Malaria studies →

Lead sponsor

Sanaria Inc. is the lead sponsor of 29 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

Of its 10 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (30%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
1 Year to 12 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy children aged 1 to 12 years
  • Provision of written of a legal representative of age 18 or above and provision of informed assent by participants in concordance with Gabonese national guidelines.
  • Able and willing to comply with all study requirements
  • Residence in the area throughout the study period
  • Household member reachable by mobile phone during the immunization phase

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Receipt of an product in the 30 days preceding enrollment
  • Prior receipt of a malaria vaccine
  • Immunization with more than 3 other vaccines or at least on elive vaccine within the past four weeks
  • Use of immunoglobulins or blood products within 3 months prior to immunization with the investigational product
  • Known or suspected infection or any other state
  • Positive for surface antigen (HBs-antigen)
  • Seropositive for virus (antibodies to HCV)
  • A concentration \<9 g/dl (applies at enrollment only)
  • History of non-febrile or atypical febrile seizures
  • Pregnancy or lactation
  • Any other significant disease, disorder or finding which, in the opinion of the investigator, may significantly increase the risk to the child because of participation in the study or impair interpretation of the study data
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(7)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
200 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Group 1- PfSPZ-Vaccine

    Children aged 7-12 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=44 will receive PfSPZ Vaccine; three doses of 9x10\^6 PfSPZ of PfSPZ Vaccine administered by direct venous inoculation (DVI) given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals.

    Biological: PfSPZ Vaccine

  • Placebo comparator
    Group 2

    Children aged 7-12 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=22 will receive normal saline; three doses of NS administered by DVI given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals.

    Other: Normal Saline

  • Experimental
    Group 3

    Children aged 3-6 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=44 will receive PfSPZ Vaccine; three doses of 9x10\^6 PfSPZ of PfSPZ Vaccine administered by direct venous inoculation (DVI) given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals; given 2 weeks after the first immunization of Group 1.

    Biological: PfSPZ Vaccine

  • Placebo comparator
    Group 4

    Children aged 3-6 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=22 will receive normal saline; three doses of NS administered by DVI given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals; given 2 weeks after the first dose of NS of Group 2.

    Other: Normal Saline

  • Experimental
    Group 5

    Children aged 1-2 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=44 will receive PfSPZ Vaccine; three doses of 9x10\^6 PfSPZ of PfSPZ Vaccine administered by direct venous inoculation (DVI) given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals; given 2 weeks after the first immunization of Group 3.

    Biological: PfSPZ Vaccine

  • Placebo comparator
    Group 6

    Children aged 1-2 years (inclusive) of age will be enrolled in this group. N=22 will receive normal saline; three doses of NS administered by DVI given at 0, 7 and 28 day intervals; given 2 weeks after the first dose of NS of Group 4.

    Other: Normal Saline

Interventions

  • BiologicalPfSPZ Vaccine

    Radiation-attenuated, aseptic, purified, cryopreserved Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ Vaccine)

  • OtherNormal Saline

    0.9% Sodium chloride

    Also known as: NS

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of volunteers who become parasitemic will be recorded, detected by Thick Blood Smear (TBS) microscopy

    Time to event and proportional analysis of episodes of P. falciparum parasitemia, detected actively or passively by TBS microscopy. Vaccine efficacy will be measured in the mITT population.

    Time frame: From 2 weeks to 6 months after the third PfSPZ Vaccine immunization

  2. Proportion of volunteers who become parasitemic with temperature ≥37.5°C or history of fever

    Time to event and proportional analysis of episodes of P. falciparum parasitemia with temperature ≥37.5°C or history of fever within the last 24 hours (P. falciparum malaria with clinical manifestations). Vaccine efficacy against P. falciparum malaria with clinical manifestations will be measured in the mITT population using hierarchical testing; the secondary will only be tested when the primary endpoint shows a significant difference.

    Time frame: From 2 weeks to 6 months after the third PfSPZ Vaccine immunization

  3. The occurrence and frequency of adverse events (AEs)

    The occurrence and frequency of Grade 3 solicited adverse AEs (related or unrelated) after vaccination

    Time frame: From the time of each PfSPZ Vaccine immunization until 7 days after each dose

  4. The occurrence and frequency of AEs

    The occurrence and frequency of Grade 3 unsolicited adverse AEs (related or unrelated) after vaccination

    Time frame: From the time of first PfSPZ Vaccine immunization until 28 days after the last dose

  5. The occurrence and frequency of serious adverse events (SAEs)

    The occurrence and frequency of SAEs (related or unrelated) after vaccination

    Time frame: Around 27 months (from day of first immunization through study completion)

Secondary outcomes

  1. The occurrence of all related solicited AE

    The occurrence of all related solicited AE after vaccination

    Time frame: From the time of each PfSPZ Vaccine immunization until 7 days after each dose

  2. The occurrence of all related unsolicited AEs

    The occurrence of all related unsolicited AE after vaccination

    Time frame: From the time of first PfSPZ Vaccine immunization until 28 days after the last dose

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL)
    Lambaréné, Moyen-Ogooué, Gabon
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Jun 2018 to primary completion in May 2021, 35 months.

Of 39 phase 2 interventional studies under Malaria, half reached primary completion within 16 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 27. This study's 35 months is above that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Apr 26, 2018
First posted
May 11, 2018
StartActual
Jun 14, 2018
Primary completionActual
May 18, 2021
CompletionActual
Aug 3, 2021
Last update
Oct 7, 2021
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 7, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03521973
Lead sponsor
Sanaria Inc.
Collaborators
Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), German Center for Infection Research
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 11, 2018
Start date
Jun 14, 2018
Primary completion
May 18, 2021
Completion
Aug 3, 2021
Last update
Oct 7, 2021

Study contacts

Selidji Agnandji, MD
principal investigator · Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL)

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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