The Gates Foundation announced its support for the launch of phase III clinical trial of tuberculosis candidate vaccine

On June 28, the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda French Gates Foundation announced that they would provide funds to support the phase III clinical trial of tuberculosis candidate vaccine M72/AS01E (M72). If proved effective, M72 is expected to become the first new vaccine to prevent tuberculosis since the BCG vaccine vaccine was introduced in 1921

On June 28, the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda French Gates Foundation announced that they would provide funds to support the phase III clinical trial of tuberculosis candidate vaccine M72/AS01E (M72). If proved effective, M72 is expected to become the first new vaccine to prevent tuberculosis since the BCG vaccine vaccine was introduced in 1921.

It is estimated that in 2021, there will be 10.6 million new cases of tuberculosis worldwide and 1.6 million people will die of tuberculosis, which is equivalent to about 4300 deaths every day. Tuberculosis mainly affects people in low - and middle-income countries, and poor people with poor living and working conditions and malnutrition are often at the highest risk of tuberculosis. On a global scale, it is expected that up to a quarter of the population is infected with latent tuberculosis. These people are infected with tuberculosis without any symptoms, but may develop into active tuberculosis.

"Although tuberculosis can be cured, it is still one of the main causes of death in South Africa," said Numassasenka Mazoji, director of public education at the African Health Research Institute, "In the area where I live and work, more than half of the people have had or will suffer from tuberculosis at some stage of their life, and the consequences are devastating for both individuals and communities. M72 brings new hope for our tuberculosis free future."

According to the Global Plan to End tuberculosis 2023-2030, more than 26 billion US dollars will be invested annually from 2023 to 2030 to expand the scope of tuberculosis prevention and treatment services and provide services for all people in need. During the same period, another 5 billion US dollars will be invested annually for tuberculosis research and development.

It is reported that the total cost of M72 Phase III clinical trial is expected to be 550 million US dollars. The Wellcome Trust will provide up to 150 million US dollars for this purpose, and the Gates Foundation will provide about 400 million US dollars for the rest.

"Tuberculosis has always been one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world." Julia Gillard, President of the Council of Wellcome Trust, said that the development of affordable and accessible tuberculosis vaccine for adults and adolescents would bring great changes to the cause of tuberculosis prevention and control. The research and development funding of M72 vaccine shows that charity can be a catalyst to help M72 become a new tool to prevent the further spread of tuberculosis and provide protection for the most affected people. She said that continuing to promote the process of tuberculosis prevention and control and even the elimination of the broader threat of disease will depend on key factors such as global cooperation, financial support and political will. By working with communities and researchers in countries with high Disease burden, we are one step closer to eliminating tuberculosis as a public health threat.

BCG vaccine is the only tuberculosis vaccine in use at present. It was first used in humans in 1921. It can protect infants from serious systemic tuberculosis, but its protective effect on adolescents and adults is very limited.

Bill Gates, co chairman of the Gates Foundation, said that with the increasing number of tuberculosis cases and deaths, the demand for new tools for tuberculosis prevention and control has never been so urgent. Increasing investment in research and development of safe and effective tuberculosis vaccine, and developing a new set of diagnosis and treatment methods, will hopefully change the diagnosis and treatment of millions of tuberculosis patients, save lives, and reduce the burden of this devastating and costly disease.

According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 25 years, a vaccine with an effectiveness of more than 50% can prevent as many as 76 million new cases of tuberculosis, save 8.5 million lives, reduce 42 million antibiotic treatment courses, and save 41.5 billion dollars in tuberculosis related disaster household expenditure, especially among the poorest and most vulnerable groups.

It is understood that a total of 17 candidate vaccines for tuberculosis are currently being developed. The M72 candidate vaccine has been developed since the beginning of this century. In the Phase IIb trial, the effectiveness of M72 in reducing latent tuberculosis infection in adults to develop into tuberculosis can reach about 50%, which is the highest level in tuberculosis vaccine research in the past decades.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, said that the support of the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust for the development of a new tuberculosis vaccine, as well as the United Nations High level Meeting on tuberculosis to be held in September, showed that the world can reverse the trend of tuberculosis crisis through sustained political and financing actions. He said: "In response to the tuberculosis crisis, we need a new vaccine to reduce the spread of disease and avoidable deaths, especially for adults and young people who bear at least 90% of the burden of tuberculosis."

Source: Bai Bo, client reporter of Beijing Daily

Process Editor: U022

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