Tuberculosis — the world’s number one infectious disease killer — remains hard to treat and does not have an effective vaccine to protect adults from the disease. However, the robust pipeline of tuberculosis vaccines can provide hope for people affected by it and those who have been working to end the disease.
One of the most talked about vaccine candidates, the M72 vaccine showed a 50% efficacy in preventing pulmonary TB disease in a phase 2b trial. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome this year announced $550 million in funding to support phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine in more than 50 trial sites in Africa and Southeast Asia.
It will take years for the results of the trial, and the vaccine won’t likely be 100% effective, but it can provide a huge amount of information about TB, and inform the development of the next generation of vaccines, said Jeremy Farrar, the chief scientist at the World Health Organization.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
