Trio begins TB vaccine ramp-up

Work is underway to develop manufacturing methods for the scale-up of a mycobacterium vaccine to treat tuberculosis in new HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries. The ramp-up effort follows a positive outcome in clinical trials of HIV-infected people in Tanzania: The MV vaccine reduced their rate of tuberculosis by more than one-third.

The current manufacturing activities aim to set processes and procedures for the production of large quantities of the inactivated, whole-cell mycobacterial vaccine for additional studies and clinical use. A chief objective is making the vaccine economical to produce and distribute in infrastructure-poor areas.

Manufacturing development will be conducted by the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation in conjunction with London-based Immodulon Therapeutics. Dartmouth Medical School researchers drove development of the vaccine.

Those newly infected with HIV risk contracting TB almost immediately, say Dartmouth researchers. The MV vaccine is being hailed as the first to demonstrate that any type of vaccine can prevent an infectious complication of HIV in adults.

- see the article

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