Brazil is a few steps away from manufacturing the world’s first vaccine against schistosomiasis, a disease caused by worms and causes large swollen bellies in children and adults in the poorest regions of the southern hemisphere, especially in Africa. The discovery is the work of a team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundationa public body based in Rio de Janeiro.
The preclinical tests of the vaccine baptized as Shistovac (sm14) in laboratory animals managed to reduce the infection of the Schistosoma masnoni in more than 90% infection in mice and rabbits. In humans, the vaccine was shown to be safe, its main side effect being pain in the area of application. The researcher who has been leading the team that has developed the vaccine for years, Miriam Tendler, explains by phone that the results “are excellent from phase one.”
It is the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease in the world, only behind malaria.
At the moment, the researchers are finishing the last phase of human tests, and working so that the World Health Organization (WHO) grants the necessary certificate. After testing it on 300 people in Brazil in recent years, it will now be tested on another 2,000 in Senegal. If all goes well, the vaccine will become the world’s first to protect against a worm. Vaccine studies began in the 1980s, when the aim was to protect cattle from parasitic infections. After decades of lack of interest on the part of the industry in developed countries and some failed attempts, the immunizer could begin to be marketed by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, Tendler estimates.
The disease, popularly known in Brazil as “water belly”, is closely linked to poor sanitary conditions and the lack of sewerage and drinking water, which is why it affects the poorest countries above all. Infection occurs through the larvae of the parasitic snail eggs, which penetrate human skin. Already in the blood, the larvae transform and settle in organs such as the liver. The adult worms may end up in the veins of the intestine or bladder, forming the characteristic bloated tummy.
The vaccine contains the Sm14 protein, present in the Schistosoma. These proteins are key because they transport the necessary fats that guarantee the survival of the parasite. But the vaccine protein is modified and prevents the transport of these fats, thus preventing the proliferation of the parasite. The discovery could dramatically change the landscape in dozens of countries where, for now, the disease is treated with drugs. Although it has low mortality, schistosomiasis causes a great loss of quality of life. It affects, for example, the learning process of children in schools or the work performance of young adults, explains the researcher.
The disease is closely linked to poor sanitary conditions and the lack of sewerage and drinking water, which is why it affects the poorest countries above all
According to the WHO, it is estimated that every year 200 million people are infected by this disease, and another 800 million live in high-risk areas. In Africa it is present in 74 countries. In Latin America, Brazil concentrates 95% of the cases. Worldwide, it is the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, only behind malaria.
The vaccine is the result of an alliance between the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and the American company Orygen Biotechnology, but it has been developed entirely in Brazil. All the technology used is Brazilian, and so are the patents, Tendler proudly points out. The researcher stresses that Brazil does not have the financial resources for research in Europe or the US, but instead has much more in-depth knowledge of tropical and parasitic diseases. In her opinion, it will be an emblematic vaccine: “It is a highly sophisticated vaccine and it breaks a paradigm that lasts until today. We hope that it will open the way for other antiparasitic vaccines that are off the radar of the big industry because there is no market in the countries of the northern hemisphere and, therefore, they are not in its line of priorities ”, she points out. The organizations involved in the development of the vaccine have promised to commercialize it at a low cost so that it reaches where it is most needed. It will fit within what the WHO defines as a “humanitarian” vaccine.
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