• TB kills 1.3 million people a year and sickens more than 10 million people annually.
• A new TB vaccine is needed to reach the global End TB goals.
• MTBVAC is a highly promising vaccine candidate that has the potential to be used as an alternative to BCG vaccination in infants and for prevention of TB disease in adolescents and adults.
• Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to IAVI will support efficacy trial.

NEW YORK, U.S. and PORRIÑO, SPAIN — December 18, 2023 — IAVI, a global nonprofit scientific research organization, and Spanish biopharmaceutical company Biofabri, a subsidiary of Zendal, today announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded IAVI US$55 million to conduct a Phase IIb trial assessing the safety and efficacy of the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate MTBVAC to prevent active TB lung disease in adolescents and adults. This funding has been made possible in part through a grant provided by Open Philanthropy, a grant-making organization that aims to use its resources to help others as much as it can. This trial is also supported by additional funding provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the KfW Development Bank, which provides funding to IAVI and partners in support of developing MTBVAC. It is anticipated that the trial will begin enrolling participants in mid-2024.

The elimination of TB cannot be achieved if medicines are locked in a “patent panoply,” according to Indian author and journalist Vidya Kishnan.

Public Health Action is the peer-reviewed open access journal of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. It communicates and reports new knowledge across all relevant areas of operational research including: infection control, nutrition, TB, HIV, vaccines, smoking, COVID-19, microbial resistance and disease outbreaks.

The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is the official publication of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have identified a potential mechanism by which tobacco smoking drives a type of white blood cell known as monocytes to the lung where they can increase the risk of active tuberculosis (TB).

A viewpoint, published in Public Health Action, advocates for transparent, accessible pre-approval access as a core element of person-centered care for drug-resistant TB.

TB prevalence, illness and deaths are very much more common in the low- and middle-income countries than high-income countries. However the higher rate of TB in low- and middle-income settings, especially in people with HIV, has meant that large TB studies have tended to be conducted there, and in some ways we know less about TB in high-income settings, especially in people with HIV.

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS Tuberculosis Research Network Innovation Summit kicked off on Monday in Durban, South Africa's coastal city, with scientists and senior officials from BRICS countries gathering together to facilitate collaborative research on innovations in tuberculosis diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics and drugs and health systems strengthening.

More than 2 million children and adolescents lack preventive treatment for TB, which is needed for those living with HIV or exposed to TB at home. 

The Scorecard aims to enhance visibility and multisectoral accountability regarding legal, policy and human rights barriers experienced by people affected by TB.