On the 18th anniversary of World Malaria Day, the IMVACS Consortium is extremely pleased to announce the launch of another significant and exciting research initiative in the fight against malaria: the CoSAV-R21 trial.

In June 2025, Epicentre/MSF in collaboration with other IMVACS partners, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), and the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST), will implement the CoSAV-R21 trial in the health districts of Moïssala and Dembo, in Chad.

The primary objective of this two-year, two-arm, cluster-randomised controlled trial is to evaluate the non-inferiority of R21/MM vaccination integrated with Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) compared to R21/MM vaccination delivered through the routine Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), in terms of malaria incidence among children under five years.

The trial targets children who are eligible for R21/MM vaccination according to Chad’s national immunisation guidelines.

By comparing these two approaches, the CoSAV-R21 trial will generate critical evidence to guide future policy and implementation strategies for malaria vaccine deployment in highly seasonal transmission settings.

Further information is available here: https://epicentre.msf.org/en/news/malaria-vaccines-hope-and-many-challenges