Patent

1. A pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one antigen and an adjuvant composition, wherein the adjuvant composition comprises a saponin and a liposome comprising monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), cholesterol and a phospholipid that is in a liquid crystalline state at greater than or equal to 23° C., wherein the concentration of cholesterol to lipid in the liposome is greater than 50% (mol/mol), and wherein the antigen is soluble Plasmodium falciparum recombinant circumsporozoite protein (rCSP) comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, or a P. falciparum rCSP peptide that is at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1.

2. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the at least one saponin is QS7, QS18 or QS21 or mixtures thereof.

3. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of cholesterol to lipid in the liposome is at least about 50.1%, 50.2%, 50.3%, 50.4%, 50.5%, 50.6%, 50.7%, 50.8%, 50.9%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70% or 71%.

4. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 3 , wherein the phospholipid in the liposome is a phosphatidylcholine (PC) selected from the group consisting of dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and distearyl phosphatidylcholine (DSPC).

5. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 4 , wherein the liposome of the adjuvant composition further comprising a phosphatidylglycerol (PG) selected from dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DMPG), dipalmitoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) and distearyl phosphatidylglycerol (DSPG).

6. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 5 , wherein the ratio of the PC to the PG (mol/mol) in the liposome is about 0.5:1, 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, 8:1, 9:1, 10:1, 11:1, 12:1, 13:1, 14:1, 15:1.

7. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the amount of MPLA is about 5 mg or less, about 4 mg or less, about 3 mg or less, about 2 mg or less, about 1 mg or less, about 0.9 mg or less, about 0.8 mg or less, about 0.7 mg or less, about 0.6 mg or less, about 0.5 mg or less, about 0.4 mg or less, about 0.3 mg or less, about 0.2 mg or less, about 0.1 mg or less, about 0.09 mg or less, about 0.08 mg or less, about 0.07 mg or less, about 0.06 mg or less, about 0.05 mg or less, about 0.04 mg or less, about 0.03 mg or less, about 0.02 mg or less or about 0.01 mg or less (total weight per ml liposome suspension).

8. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 where the liposome has a MPLA:phospholipid mole ratio of about 1:5.6 to about 1:880, or about 1:88 to about 1:220.

9. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the amount of saponin in the liposome is about 1 mg or less, about 0.9 mg or less, about 0.8 mg or less, about 0.7 mg or less, about 0.6 mg or less, about 0.5 mg or less, about 0.4 mg or less, about 0.3 mg or less, about 0.2 mg or less, about 0.1 mg or less, about 0.09 mg or less, about 0.08 mg or less, about 0.07 mg or less, about 0.06 mg or less, about 0.05 mg or less, about 0.04 mg or less, about 0.03 mg or less, about 0.02 mg or less, about 0.01 mg or less (total weight per ml liposome suspension).

10. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the liposome comprises multi-lamellar vesicles (MLV) of about 1 to about 4 μm in diameter or small uni-lamellar vesicles (SUV) of about 50 to about 100 nm in diameter.

11. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , further comprising a physiologically acceptable vehicle.

12. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the P. falciparum rCSP lacks Met 1 to Cys 25 of the N-terminal region of native P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein.

13. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the P.falciparum rCSP has 18 or 19 NANP (SEQ ID NO:13) repeats.

14. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the P.falciparum rCSP has 0 to 3 NVDP (SEQ ID NO:14) repeats.

15. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the P.falciparum rCSP has a C-terminal region that lacks ten to fourteen C-terminus amino acid residues of native P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein.

16. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the C-terminal residue of the P.falciparum rCSP is serine.

17. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the P.falciparum rCSP comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:8.

18. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the amount of the P.falciparum rCSP antigen is between about 0.01 μg and about 100 μg per dose or per administration.

19. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the amount of P.falciparum rCSP antigen is between about 1 μg to about 30 μg per dose per dose or administration.

20. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the adjuvant composition is in an amount from about 0.1 ml to about 10 ml.

21. A method of immunizing a subject against malaria, the method comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition to a subject at least once, wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises at least one antigen and an adjuvant composition, wherein the adjuvant composition comprises a saponin and a liposome comprising monophosphoryl lipid A (MFLA), cholesterol and a phospholipid that is in a liquid crystalline state at greater than or equal to 23° C., wherein the concentration of cholesterol to lipid in the liposome is greater than 50% (mol/mol), and wherein the antigen is soluble Plasmodium falciparum recombinant circumsporozoite protein (rCSP) comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, or a P. falciparum rCSP peptide that is at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is administered to the subject more than once.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is administered at least three times to the subject, with between 2-6 weeks in between each administration.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the adjuvant composition is in an amount from about 0.1 ml to about 10 ml.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the amount of P.falciparum rCSP antigen is between about 1 μg to about 30 μg per dose per dose or administration.