The need for a TB vaccine can be understood from the fact that TB is one of the biggest threats globally. Despite the need for innovation, tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment options have been difficult to develop, but now, we see a ray of hope.
Early next year, the 26,000 adults who signed up for the placebo-controlled experiment will test the M72 vaccination at 50 different locations across Africa and Southeast Asia.
People without symptoms of TB but with latent infections of the respiratory disease’s causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, make up the majority of the study’s participants.
Does tuberculosis have a vaccine?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, a bacterial infection. The latent TB infection (LTBI) phase and active TB illness phase are the two basic stages of TB.
The TB vaccine with the highest rate of use worldwide is BCG. It was created at the start of the 20th century and is still in use in many nations with a high TB prevalence.
In nations where TB is widespread, the BCG vaccine is typically administered to newborns and young children. It offers some defense against serious cases of pediatric TB, like meningitis and disseminated TB.
The BCG vaccination has its drawbacks and provides very little defense against pulmonary tuberculosis (TB of the lungs), which accounts for majority of cases and transmission, for adults and adolescents. Despite the fact that it has saved countless lives, it has its limitations.
Is the new TB vaccine approved?
A promising tuberculosis vaccine candidate is receiving new life after two significant donors opted to invest $550 million in its most recent round of clinical studies.
Wellcome will contribute up to $150 million towards the trial’s anticipated $550 million cost, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation covering the remaining $400 million. It would be the first new tuberculosis vaccine to hit the market in more than a century if it’s successful.
The grant was announced on June 28 by Wellcome and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Medical Research Institute has a license to use the vaccine candidate, which was developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK.
The M72/AS01E TB vaccine candidate tries to combat latent infections. Data from phase II trials that were published in 2019 showed promise, showing a 54% efficacy in individuals who were the bacterium’s hosts. However, GSK gave up on it, as it had no commercial promise.
According to Alexander Pym, director of Infectious Disease at Wellcome, the investment in the TB vaccine candidate is a recognition of the need to close the gap in tuberculosis prevention. A new vaccination would be revolutionary, he says.
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