Bill Gates, Editas and Gene Editing

http://fortune.com/2016/01/05/editas-ipo-crispr/

It’s the first genetic editing company to file an IPO.
Editas Medicine—a startup backed by Bill Gates and Google Ventures, among others— has filed to become the first gene-editing medical technology company to go public
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The Crispr technique, which allows scientists to precisely and easily edit genes that will be passed down to future generations, has been heralded in the scientific community as a revolutionary step into the future of medicine. Some scientists, in a study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are already proposing to use the technology to wipe out certain species of mosquitos that are the prime carriers of malaria. In December, policy-makers and scientists gathered in Washington, D.C. for a conference to discuss the wide-ranging implications of the technique, where many advised caution in the use of such a powerful tool.

GSK’s Mosquirix Effective?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02xxcb0

The world’s first malaria vaccine has cleared one of the final hurdles prior to being approved for use in Africa.

The European Medicines Agency gave a positive scientific opinion after assessing its safety and effectiveness.

“Kids in Africa will benefit from it,” said Joe Cohen, co-inventor of the vaccine ‘mosquirix’.

“The target population is kids under the age of 5.”

The vaccine will not stop malaria, but will add onto the benefits of other prevention measures, said Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, executive director of the “Roll Back Malaria Partnership”.

“It is an important achievement and we appreciate the positive feedback,” she added.

Malaria kills around 584,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

Note: The vaccine will NOT STOP malaria, so there goes any claim of effectiveness. Only 1 in 3 maybe protected! Also requires 4 injections (introduction of toxins and dna altering vectors) for children between the ages of 6 weeks to 17 months.
The same WHO that refuses to allow open testing of contaminated Tetanus vaccines in Kenya will now distribute this malaria “vaccine”.

Malaria vaccine gets ‘green light’ – BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33641939

The world’s first malaria vaccine has cleared one of the final hurdles prior to being approved for use in Africa.

The European Medicines Agency gave a positive scientific opinion after assessing its safety and effectiveness.

It represents a ‘green light’ for the Mosquirix jab, developed by GlaxoSmithKline.

The World Health Organization will consider later this year whether to recommend it for children, among whom trials have yielded mixed results.

Malaria kills around 584,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.
‘Dream come true’

Mosquirix, otherwise known as the RTS,S vaccine, is the first against a parasitic infection in humans.

Dr Ripley Ballou, head of research at GSK vaccines, said: “This is a hugely significant moment. I’ve been working on this vaccine for 30 years and this is a dream come true.”

Note: It will be interesting to watch the narrative on this “Malaria vaccine” as malaria is a parasite not a virus.

GSK Ebola specialist was a ‘novice’ until last year

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/education/stem-awards/pharmaceuticals/11436899/gsk-ebola-specialist-ripley-ballou.html
Infectious diseases specialist Dr Ripley Ballou is working on GSK’s Ebola vaccine

Prior to last year, infectious diseases specialist Dr Ripley Ballou knew very little about Ebola. “I was a novice – I’d never seen an Ebola patient or touched an Ebola vaccine before last summer,” he says.
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He is better known for helping to discover the world’s first vaccine against malaria. Now head of clinical research and translational science in the vaccines division at GSK, he has devoted some 30 years to discovering the vaccine, which is going through regulatory approval and should be launched next year.