Malaria vaccine in the works

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute announced Monday they've made progress toward developing a malaria vaccine using a weakened form of the malaria parasite.

Dr. Stefan Kappe, lead researcher for the institute's malaria program, said he has found a way to genetically engineer malaria-causing parasites and that his test vaccine has proved 100 percent effective in trials on rats and mice. Kappe said his lab will start testing the vaccine on human volunteers early next year.

The announcement came during a conference in Seattle organized by We Work for Health, a network of life-sciences business in Washington state created in April.

As part of a public literacy campaign, the organization Monday released a report about 119 new medicines being developed by companies with a presence in Washington.

The event at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute on Westlake Avenue North brought together not only scientists and business people, but also Gov. Chris Gregoire and other political figures. Several people made presentations during the event.

"I want to showcase this kind of stuff [medical research] because of its power to inspire us as a population," said Lee Huntsman, one of several co-chairs for We Work for Health and a longtime bioengineering researcher at the University of Washington, where he served as interim president for about 2 ½ years.

Huntsman said he wants people to realize that the state has become a key player in the fields of biotechnology and biomedicine. He wants to give the public an opportunity to share in the delight of that progress, he said.

Gregoire emphasized the need for research to be done collaboratively.

"It's not about one scientist or one facility or one state or one nation, it's about all of us working together," she said.

The conference was a snapshot of the efforts to realize that goal, said Gregoire.

A breast-cancer survivor, Gregoire developed the $1 billion Life Sciences Discovery Fund in 2005. The goal of the state-sponsored initiative is to put Washington at the forefront of health research.

Money spent on medical research ultimately has a big impact in reducing health-care costs, said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of communications for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

For every dollar spent on medicine, he said, the country saves $6 to $7 in health-care costs. That's why it's important to support efforts like Kappe's, he said.

Kappe's presentation covered his team's malaria research, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Malaria, one of the world's deadliest diseases, is often transmitted by mosquitoes. Kappe said it kills more than 6 million people a year — close to the population of Washington.

With varying success over the years, scientists have attempted to use parts of the malaria-causing parasite as a vaccine. So far, the best vaccine protects against malaria only 30 to 50 percent of the time.

So Kappe, who wants to find the magic bullet, has figured out a way to "copy and paste" into the genes of the parasites. By directing electricity into its DNA, he can pop out the gene that allows the parasite to develop inside a host's liver. He then replaces that gene with a neutral piece of DNA, he said.

Malaria-causing parasites usually develop inside the liver for about seven days before they can get into the bloodstream and cause disease, Kappe explained. Without the ability to progress past the liver, the parasite is harmless.

Kappe said he hopes the vaccine will prove 100 percent effective in humans.

"We want to eradicate malaria," he said. "We want to get rid of it totally."

Jean Guerrero: 206-464-2311 or jguerrero@seattletimes.com