On March 14, 2025, researchers from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research met with Dr. Irene Soares, an associate professor at the University of São Paulo, to discuss a possible collaboration on “Vivaxin”, a candidate vaccine against Plasmodium vivax malaria. “Vivaxin” targets the malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax, a vaccine WRAIR is uniquely positioned to support in preclinical animal studies using P. vivax-infected mosquitos.
P. vivax is especially prevalent in Brazil, east African countries, and the Indo-Pacific. WRAIR has long been interested in the development of vaccines that can protect U.S. soldiers who are deployed to these areas.
WRAIR has contributed to the discovery and development of 100% of all Food and Drug Administration-approved malaria prevention drugs as well as the world’s most advanced malaria vaccine candidates, including the first vaccine approved by the World Health Organization: RTS,S. This vaccine targets the deadliest form of the malaria-causing parasite: Plasmodium falciparum.
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