UNITED KINGDOM: Scientists test first new TB vaccine in 80 years with trials in Africa

Record ID: 454802

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Scientists test first new TB vaccine in 80 years with trials in Africa
  • Date: 17th August 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) OXFORD, ENGLAND, UK (AUGUST 15, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. HELEN McSHANE, TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE CO-DEVELOPER, SAYING: "In all the clinical trials we've done with this vaccine to date - in the UK, and then in the Gambia and more recently in South Africa - the trials have shown the vaccine to be very safe and to stimulate high levels of exactly the kind of immune response we think we need with a new TB vaccine. The million dollar question is really whether it works and whether it actually stops people getting TB."
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVADDWZY5MW7FVRPNU8V878GV2EM
  • Story Text: The current standard vaccine for Tuberculosis (TB) is Bacille Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, which provides some protection against severe forms of the disease in children but is unreliable against pulmonary TB, the most common type.
    Researchers at Oxford University couldn't help but be excited on Wednesday (August 15) over the prospects of developing the first new vaccine against tuberculosis in more than 80 years.
    "It's very exciting to be at this point," said the vaccine's co-developer, Dr. Helen McShane. "I think what we all want to do now is see whether these very good levels of immune responses we see really means that we can stop people getting TB."
    The new vaccine, known as MVA85A, works with the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) shot and acts as a booster to the older vaccine.
    Oxford researchers are now studying it in Phase II studies in the Western Cape where, despite widespread vaccination, one in 100 infants suffers from TB. The vaccine has entered mid-stage trials in South Africa and, if the tests are successful, a new shot against M. tuberculosis (TB) bacteria could be available within eight years.
    "The trials have shown the vaccine to be very safe and to stimulate high levels of exactly the kind of immune response we think we need with a new TB vaccine. The million dollar question is really whether it works and whether it actually stops people getting TB," McShane said.
    TB is second only to HIV/AIDS as the world's most deadly infectious disease, killing around 1.7 million people a year, and the emergence of strains that are resistant to antibiotics has increased the problem.
    It is caused by bacteria, which attacks the lungs, but can infect any part of the body. Left untreated, a TB sufferer could infect 10 to 15 other people.
    "If this vaccine works to stop people getting TB disease then it will have a huge impact on illness and death throughout the developing world and anywhere where TB is a significant problem," McShane said.
    The disease is also making a comeback in developed countries as the bug becomes increasingly resistant to available drugs and international travel extends its global reach.
    McShane and her colleagues received funding for their trials from the Wellcome Trust medical charity, which provides cash for research that is of potential benefit to public health but has not yet secured financing from commercial backers.
    The vaccine's developers have declined to comment on the possible future involvement of major drug companies in the program.
    In 2005, African health ministers declared a tuberculosis emergency to muster greater political commitment to stop one of the continent's top killers.
    "I hope so very much that the leaders of Africa, the political leaders of Africa, will show their commitment and demonstrate that they have the political will to ensure that TB is going to be combated as we need to do," said Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, at the time of the emergency declaration.
    Tutu is a survivor of the disease, along with former South African President Nelson Mandela.
    The United Nations and the World Health Organisation have set a target of 2050 to wipe out the disease.
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