NANP (N-acetylneuraminic acid phosphatase) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of N-acylneuraminate 9-phosphate (Neu5Ac-9-P) to N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid), the final step in sialic acid biosynthesis 123. The enzyme accepts N-glycoloylneuraminate 9-phosphate as an alternative substrate 1. NANP functions in the N-acetylneuraminate biosynthetic pathway, which generates sialic acids—crucial cell surface glycans involved in cellular recognition and immune regulation. While NANP itself has not been directly implicated in human disease etiology, sialic acid metabolism is fundamentally important for normal cell biology. Notably, the acronym NANP also designates the Asn-Ala-Asn-Pro tetrapeptide repeat in Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein, which is the target of vaccine-induced antibodies with significant clinical relevance in malaria prevention 456. Vaccine-induced NANP-specific antibodies demonstrate strong correlation with protection against clinical malaria, with higher NANP-specific antibody titers associated with enhanced vaccine efficacy in children 4. This demonstrates how understanding molecular targets like NANP repeats has enabled the development of highly efficacious malaria vaccines offering substantial public health impact in malaria-endemic regions.