UK Government grants 8 MN GBP to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation

8 million GBP will support the fight against tuberculosis

Global efforts to combat tuberculosis gained momentum today when the government of the United Kingdom announced generous funding to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The first-ever grant of - 8,000,000 (approximately US$ 13 million) is a significant show of support for Aeras in its mission to develop new TB vaccines.

Tuberculosis is the second most deadly infectious disease after HIV/AIDS. In Africa, TB is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV. Every year, more than nine million people are diagnosed with TB. The growth of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis and co-infection with HIV has raised the level of urgency around efforts to control and ultimately eliminate the disease. The currently available TB vaccine - Bacille Calmette-Gu-rin (BCG) - does not provide reliable protection against adult pulmonary TB, the most common form of the disease. Recent studies have shown that BCG is not safe for use in infants with HIV, adding to the urgency for new TB vaccines.

"If the international community is serious about tackling HIV and TB we must find a way to break this devastating cycle," said Mike Foster, the UK Minister for International Development." That is why the UK is supporting the discovery of a new TB vaccine that is safe for babies born with HIV, and why we are scaling up efforts to reduce the impact of drug resistant strains of TB."

Aeras is a non-profit product development partnership with six new TB vaccine candidates in its product pipeline. Four candidates are currently undergoing testing in clinical trials in Africa, Europe and North America. Two of these have reached the Phase IIb proof of concept stage.

Paul Sommerfeld, Chair of British-based not-for-profit organization TB Alert stressed that: "The BCG vaccine is ancient technology, predating even television. It is very welcome that the UK government is recognizing the crucial importance of developing a new, effective, and reliable vaccine against TB; as well as the contributions already being made by British researchers in collaboration with Aeras. With a new vaccine, the dream of eliminating TB by 2050 may become achievable."

With support from governments and foundations, Aeras collaborates with academia, industry, foundations and governments to develop new TB vaccine candidates and delivery systems, manufacture vaccines at low cost and establish intellectual property rights to assure their future availability and affordability.

"Investment by the UK government in our TB vaccine development program is a tremendous boost for Aeras and our partners, especially during such a difficult economic environment," said R. Gordon Douglas, Jr., MD, Executive Chairman of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. "We are grateful to DFID for this generous support."