The world's first malaria vaccine has been recommended to be licensed for use in babies in Africa.
The European Medicines Agency has endorsed Mosquirix, which is being developed by Glaxo Smith Kline.
The World Health Organisation will now produce guidance on use of the jab.
Glaxo spent 30 years developing the vaccine.
It is exclusively for children and will be distributed on a not-for-profit basis.
Production of the vaccine will begin once approval has been received from all national authorities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Sophie Biernaux, Head of the Malaria Vaccine Franchise for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, spoke to Newstalk.com's Pat Kenny about the vaccine:
There are 200 million cases of malaria worldwide, every year. In sub-Saharan Africa the disease causes half a million deaths every year.
One child dies by malaria every minute.
No vaccine is 100% effective, but the expectations are that more than 5,500 cases can be prevented for every 1,000 children vaccinated, in high-risk areas.
