Recent news
August 2011
New TB vaccine enters clinical trials in Africa
August 12, 2011 -- Aeras and the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium (OETC) have announced the start of a proof-of-concept clinical trial of a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that involves people living with HIV. The trial will be conducted at research sites in Senegal and South Africa with primary funding support from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
TB is a leading cause of death for HIV-positive people. This is the first proof-of-concept efficacy trial in people living with HIV using the new vaccine, called MVA85A. The vaccine is being developed by OETC and Aeras. The trial will test the vaccine candidate in about 1,400 HIV-positive adults ages 18-50. The study will be led by the UK Medical Research Council in The Gambia, Aeras, and the University of Oxford. It will be conducted at two sites by the University of Cape Town Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine in Khayelitsha, South Africa, and Laboratoire de Bacteriologie-Virologie du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Aristide Le Dantec in Dakar, Senegal. "A new, more effective TB vaccine would be game-changing in international efforts to eliminate TB globally by 2050," said Jim Connolly, president and CEO of Aeras. "Studies have already shown that this promising vaccine has an acceptable safety profile and stimulates strong immune responses in HIV-infected individuals." See the links below for more details.
