Meeting report: High-priority target product profiles for new tuberculosis diagnostics

World Health Organization
Oct. 8, 2014, 11:55 p.m.
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Report of a consensus meeting convened by the Global TB Programme of the World Health Organization.

In April 2014, the Global TB Programme of the World Health Organization convened a meeting on behalf of the Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI) and the New Diagnostics Working Groups (NDWG) of the Stop TB Partnership to develop consensus on the minimal and optimal specifications of four different types of TB diagnostic tests that were identified by multiple stakeholders to be high priority. Extensive work by McGill University, FIND, Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF), the New Diagnostics Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership and the GLI informed this process.

Diagnostic manufacturers are increasingly expressing the need to be informed about the type of TB diagnostics they should invest in, as well as the potential market size for these products. The development of target product profiles (TPPs) is therefore an important step to align the needs of end-users with the specifications and targets that product developers should meet in terms of the performance and operational characteristics of such tests.
 
The report of the consensus meeting is available at http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/135617/1/WHO_HTM_TB_2014.18_eng.pdf?ua=1