Malaria kills roughly 600,000 people each year, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa. Standard treatment is artemisinin-based combination therapy, but resistance is spreading in parts of Southeast Asia. Vaccines are now rolling out in Africa, and researchers are testing single-dose cures, long-acting prevention drugs, and tools to block transmission.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing monoclonal antibodies that protect for an entire malaria season with one or two doses, new antimalarial drugs that work against resistant parasites, vaccines that target different parasite stages, and drugs that prevent severe disease in children. Researchers are also studying host genetics that influence who gets sick and how transmission happens in low-burden areas.
Monoclonal antibodies for prevention
Antibodies injected before malaria season could protect for months, replacing daily pills. Early trials show strong protection in adults and children, with studies now testing delivery in rural clinics.
Single-dose cures
New drug combinations aim to clear malaria with one dose instead of three days of pills. This could improve cure rates in places where people stop treatment early.
Transmission-blocking drugs
Some drugs kill the parasite stage that infects mosquitoes, potentially stopping spread in a community. Trials are testing whether adding these to standard treatment reduces cases.
What to know before you search
Eligibility often depends on age, living in a malaria-endemic area, infection status, and severity of disease at enrollment.
What types of trials are currently open
- Prevention trials — Testing drugs or antibodies given before malaria season to prevent infection, often in children living in high-transmission areas.
- Treatment trials — Testing new drug combinations to cure malaria faster or overcome resistance, usually comparing to artemisinin-based therapy.
- Vaccine trials — Testing vaccines that target the parasite in the liver, bloodstream, or mosquito stage, often in infants and young children.
- Severe malaria trials — Testing treatments for life-threatening malaria in hospitalized patients, including drugs that prevent organ damage.
- Elimination studies — Testing strategies to stop malaria transmission in areas nearing elimination, such as mass drug administration or mosquito control.
Recently added Malaria trials
Management of Severe Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria With Oral Artemisinin Derivatives
ACTs could be used as first-line treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria without clinical signs of severity but with biological severity criteria. The study aims to determine the real-world frequency of ACT monotherapy use in cases of P. falciparum malaria with severity criteria, and to compare the treatment success of ACTs with that of artesunate.
Take an experimental drug combination to treat malaria
This was Cohort C2 of the Platform study (NCT05750628) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Cipargamin + KLU156 in participants with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
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