Zendal and IAVI Partner for TB Vaccine Candidate

Spanish biopharmaceutical company Biofabri and IAVI, an international nonprofit research organization focused on developing vaccines and antibodies against infectious and neglected diseases, announced their intention to partner on efficacy trials of tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate, MTBVAC.

TB kills 1.4 million people a year, an infectious disease toll only recently surpassed by COVID-19. COVID-19 has reversed years of progress in TB response, costing additional lives and adding to the urgency of the global TB problem.

MTBVAC will complete Phase II evaluation this year and is one of the most promising new TB vaccines in the pipeline.The only available TB vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), does not prevent primary infection and has limited effectiveness at preventing pulmonary TB in adults, who, along with adolescents, are mainly responsible for spreading TB. The first dose of the BCG vaccine was delivered 100 years ago on Sunday, July 18.

“The urgency of global COVID-19 vaccine rollout is deservedly receiving unprecedented attention. At the same time, this global focus on disease control is an opportunity to go the extra mile and try to stamp out TB, which, once COVID-19 recedes, will resume its position as the leading cause of infectious disease deaths globally,” said Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI.

The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) has committed to support a Phase III trial of MTBVAC in newborns, scheduled to begin in several African countries in 2021. IAVI will support the development and further resource mobilization for MTBVAC, including for an adolescent/adult trial. TBVI will also support the ongoing trial preparations.