Vaccine targeting latent TB enters clinical testing

Statens Serum Institut and Aeras today announce the initiation of the first Phase I clinical trial of a new candidate TB vaccine designed to protect people latently infected with TB from developing active TB disease. The trial is being conducted by the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at its field site in Worcester, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Dr. Hassan Mahomed is the principal investigator.

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Researchers uncover why the body can’t defend against tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, which kills over 2 million people each year, is caused primarily by infectious bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis – or Mtb. Mtb targets human immune cells as part of its strategy to avoid detection, effectively neutralizing the body’s immune response.

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Creating an ‘electronic nose’ to sniff out tuberculosis from a patient’s breath

A new hand-held device called the Electronic Nose, which has the potential to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) in symptomatic patients, was awarded a $950,000 grant from Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today to support further development and testing of this ground-breaking technology.

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New TB vaccine approach shows promise in mice

An experimental vaccine composed of a genetically modified bacterium closely related to the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) has been found to protect mice against TB infection, according to a study appearing online September 4 in the journal Nature Medicine. The research was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health.

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TB vaccine candidate shows early promise

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report in the September 4 online edition of Nature Medicine that they have developed a tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate that proved both potent and safe in animal studies. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/) According to the World Health Organization, TB kills an estimated 1.7 million people each year and infects one out of three people around the globe. With drug-resistant strains spreading, a vaccine for preventing TB is urgently needed.

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New TB vaccine enters proof-of-concept trial in people living with HIV

Vaccine candidate is the most clinically advanced of a new generation of vaccines under development to combat TB and the TB/HIV co-epidemic

This press release is available in French.

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Clinical trial begins on experimental anti-TB drug

TMC207 represents first new class of anti-TB drugs in the past 60 years

University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center will begin a Phase 1 clinical trial on a new experimental anti-tuberculosis drug called TMC207. This drug represents the first new class of anti-TB drugs in the past 60 years and it has activity against both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB.

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2020 vision of vaccines for malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS

In a Nature Perspective Seattle BioMed’s Aderem shares insight into rational vaccine development using new approaches

SEATTLE, WA, May 25, 2011 – Collectively, malaria, TB & HIV/AIDS cause more than five million deaths per year – nearly the entire population of the state of Washington – and represent one of the world’s major public health challenges as we move into the second decade of the 21st century. In the May 26, 2011, edition of the premier scientific journal Nature, Seattle BioMed Director Alan Aderem, Ph.D., along with Rino Rappuoli, Ph.D., Global Head of Vaccines Research for Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, discuss recent advances in vaccine development, along with new tools including systems biology and structure-based antigen design that could lead to a deeper understanding of mechanisms of protection. This, in turn, will illuminate the path to rational vaccine development to lift the burden of the world’s most devastating infectious diseases.

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Scientists develop new technology for stroke rehabilitation

Devices which could be used to rehabilitate the arms and hands of people who have experienced a stroke have been developed by researchers at the University of Southampton.

In a paper to be presented this week (6 April) at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Assisted Living Conference, Dr Geoff Merrett, a lecturer in electronic systems and devices, will describe the design and evaluation of three technologies which could help people who are affected by stroke to regain movement in their hand and arm.

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Scientists find candidate for new TB vaccine

Scientists have discovered a protein secreted by tuberculosis (TB) bacteria that could be a promising new vaccine candidate, they report today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The protein could also be used to improve diagnosis of TB.

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