SEATTLE, September 17, 2015 -- Today, the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and Wellcome Trust announce the start of a Phase 2a trial in South Africa of IDRI's tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate, which has been shown to both prevent and treat TB in preclinical studies in animal models. The Wellcome Trust awarded IDRI a $5.8 million/ £3.8 million grant to clinically assess the ability of IDRI's vaccine candidate to reduce TB recurrence after treatment. Even after successfully completing an anti-TB treatment regimen, patients may succumb to TB again, thereby threatening TB control programs by promoting spread and drug resistance. Prior Phase 1 clinical trials have shown that IDRI's TB vaccine candidate boosts immune responses that may protect against TB recurrence.

Vaccine candidate was generally well tolerated, meeting the study’s primary objective of safety; Vaccine candidate did not provide statistically-significant protection in preventing TB disease in infants previously vaccinated with BCG.