Eliminating TB by 2030—the timeframe set by United Nations member states—will not be possible without developing and introducing new TB vaccines. Decades of investments in TB vaccine research and development are starting to pay off — listen to the webinar recording to learn about the latest in TB vaccine research and discuss next steps based on recent results!
On Thursday, February 6, Treatment Action Group (TAG) and AVAC conducted a webinar featuring an update on recent vaccine results and possible next steps with M72/AS01E, one of several new TB vaccine candidates.
The TB vaccine field has been buzzing in 2020, with at least two Phase II trials reporting positive results in the past two years and several other trials either underway or close to finishing. Of particular interest, the positive finding in a Phase IIb trial of TB vaccine candidate M72/AS01E provided 50 percent protection against developing TB disease in HIV-negative adults with TB infection. The Phase IIb trial of this candidate vaccine was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline (which developed it) and funded by GSK and Aeras (now IAVI).
This webinar featured Dereck Tait from IAVI who presented an overview of the M72/AS01E Phase IIb trial results, Johan Vekemans from the World Health Organization (WHO) who summarized a series of WHO-hosted consultations on the path forward for M72/AS01E’s development and possible licensure, and Penny Heaton from the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (GMRI) who discussed the recently announced agreement on M72/AS01E between GSK and the GMRI.
Presentations by:
- Johan Vekemans | World Health Organization, Initiative for Vaccine Research, Geneva, Switzerland
- Dereck Tait | IAVI, TB Program, Cape Town, South Africa
- Penny Heaton | Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, Boston, United States
Q&A and discussion moderated by:
- Mike Frick | TAG, TB Project co-director
- Stacey Hannah | AVAC, Director of Research Engagement
Recording and Slides: YouTube / Mike Frick’s slides / Johan Vekemans’ slides
If you’re looking for other information, here are some useful resources:
- WHO’s Q&A on the investigational vaccine candidate M72/AS01E
- Final Analysis of a Trial of M72/AS01E Vaccine to Prevent Tuberculosis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine
- TAG’s 2019 TB Vaccine Pipeline Report