• Tuberculosis (TB) makes 10 million people sick every year, and kills around 1.5 million people, more than any other infectious disease.  
• Drug resistant TB is a growing problem, with more than 400 thousand new cases annually, and more than 150 thousand deaths. 
• MTBVAC is a highly promising TB vaccine candidate that aims to prevent both drug sensitive and drug resistant TB in infants as well as in adolescents and adults.

O Porriño, 20th June 2024. Biofabri, a global human vaccine development company that is part of the Zendal group, and TBVI, a non-profit foundation facilitating the discovery and development of new TB vaccines that are globally accessible and affordable, have signed a contract with the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) under the EU4Health Programme to accelerate the final development of the MTBVAC vaccine. 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. 

The Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have updated the TB Vaccine Development Pathway.

To fight tuberculosis, better vaccination strategies are needed. Two recent publications demonstrate the positive effects of alternative mucosal routes of administration on the ensuing innate and adaptive immune responses induced by live mycobacterial vaccines.

The Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development published the Global roadmap for research and development for TB vaccines as a draft document for public consultation, developed with key stakeholders. 

First trial of a new live attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine in infants.

In the effort to eradicate tuberculosis as one of the world’s most deadly diseases, novel TB vaccines will be an important part of the solution. There is a pipeline of new TB vaccines that requires a global and comprehensive coordination of efforts with defined stages of development and criteria for progression of individual vaccine candidates.

TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI) is recruiting an early to mid-career dynamic person for the position of Scientific communications officer.

The clinical trial will be conducted by South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI).
Biofabri, biotechnology company focusing on human health vaccines, will sponsor the Phase 1B clinical trial.

TBVI's research partner Norwegian University of Life Sciences receives a research grant of 10.2 million Norwegian Crowns (1.25 million euro) for the development of new TB vaccines. The grant is awarded by the Norwegian Programme for Global Health and Vaccination Research (GLOBVAC) for the period 1 September 2014- 31 August 2018. The research activitities will be executed in close collaboration with the TBVI network.

Making new TB vaccines available to the world over the next 10-15 years is estimated to cost approximately €600 million, utilizing a highly efficient portfolio approach and adequate funding.