The vaccines — the first to target any human parasite — represent a feat of both scientific grit and fundraising ingenuity. Researchers took on a sophisticated biological adversary that eludes our immune systems’ schemes to identify and dispatch it. They also had to find ways to nudge forward products that would never result in blockbuster sales, a reality that sapped much of the biopharma industry’s interest.
Behind the malaria vaccines: A 40-year quest against one of humanity’s biggest killers