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This follow-up to the 2019 report by the Lancet Commission outlines roadblocks that have undermined progress towards ending TB over the past five years and provides recommendations, lessons that can be learned from the global response to COVID-19, and how a new set of diagnostics, therapeutic, and preventive tools - including new vaccines - already available or in the pipeline promises the possibility of transformative progress. The 2019 Lancet Commission on Tuberculosis laid out an optimistic vision for how to build a tuberculosis-free world through smart investments based on sound science and shared responsibility. Since then, several major strides have been made towards ending tuberculosis, including substantive improvements in treatment outcomes for people with drug-resistant disease. Although COVID-19 has undermined global progress, many African countries have sustained declines in tuberculosis mortality rates. With excellent short-course preventive regimens and several late-stage vaccine candidates, tuberculosis prevention is also on the cusp of a revolution. Still, much more can be done to fully implement the Commission's recommendations and realise the ambitious targets set out at the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on tuberculosis in 2018. In the 5 years since the HLM, more than 7 million people have died of tuberculosis; their deaths are a profound tragedy and a reminder of the urgency of accelerating momentum. Click here to read the report.

Safe, effective, and accessible vaccines are urgently needed to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. The 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines, convened virtually 22–25 February 2022, was hosted by Toulouse, France, under the high patronage of President Emmanuel Macron, and the patronages of Minister for Solidarity and Health, Olivier Véran, and Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal. The theme for the meeting, “New horizons for TB vaccines”, reflected the changing landscape in which TB vaccine research and development (R&D) is being conducted: TB vaccines advancing into late-stage clinical trials and toward licensure, innovative research toward diversifying the TB vaccine pipeline and developing the next generation of candidates, increasing political, civil society, and community support for TB vaccines, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, we summarize key themes and findings from the meeting, highlighting progress and gaps in the TB vaccine field. Read the report to learn more about: The TB R&D landscape under the theme “New horizons for TB vaccines” Key themes, progress, and gaps in the TB vaccine field Sessions on cutting-edge preclinical and clinical vaccine research New TB vaccine preparedness and advocacy priorities Click here for the full report

The 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines will take place from February 22-24, 2022 in Toulouse, France, under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and under the patronage of Mr. Olivier Véran, Minister for Solidarity and Health. The theme of the 6th Global Forum is “ New horizons for TB vaccines. ”

The 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines is currently planned to be a hybrid conference, with options for in-person and online participation. The Organizing Partners are carefully monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on the in-person component of the 6th Global Forum. Information will be posted as it becomes available.

Read our full COVID statement . Abstracts and Registration The Global Forum Organizers and Organizing Committee invite abstracts for potential oral or poster (on-site or virtual) presentation at the 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines. The abstract submission platform will be open from Sep. 1-Oct. 15, 2021. Learn more .

Registration for the 6th Global Forum will open in October 2021. Virtual Global Forum Sessions Online Did you miss a session from the Virtual Global Forum? Is there a session you would like to watch again? Recordings of sessions from the Virtual Global Forum are available on-demand for registered participants until Oct. 22, 2021. Recordings of the following sessions are now available online for public viewing: Opening Session Panel Discussion: Leveraging COVID-19 to advance TB vaccine R&D Panel Discussion: Closing the financing gap for TB vaccine R&D Closing Session Presentations from the Virtual Global Forum on TB Vaccines are available on the program page of the Virtual Global Forum website. Sponsorship Opportunities Sponsorship opportunities are available to support the 6th Global Forum and to raise your organization's visibility throughout the meeting.
Contact us to discuss sponsorship opportunities in more detail. About the Forum The Global Forum on TB Vaccines is the world’s largest gathering of stakeholders striving to develop new vaccines to prevent TB. It provides an important and unique opportunity to review the state of the field, share the latest research findings, and identify new and innovative approaches to TB vaccine R&D, with the end goal of developing and deploying new TB vaccines as quickly as possible.
Follow the Global Forum on New TB Vaccines on Twitter for news and updates.

The Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI) and IAVI have updated the TB Vaccine Development Pathway. This online tool provides a structured development path and gating criteria for TB vaccine candidates and may be useful for vaccine development in general. In addition to TB specific considerations and target population considerations, the updated Pathway now includes vaccine technology specific considerations. In the field of vaccinology, new technological platforms have emerged, each with specific challenges in their development. The Pathway now includes considerations for inactivated and live/attenuated, adjuvanted subunit, viral vectored and DNA/RNA vaccines. Guidance on planning and operating ‘community engagement’ activities has also been added. These activities aim at building relationships and working collaborations in the field, and are initiated at Stage C (Preclinical Evaluations) of the Pathway. Finally, the market, access and implementation (MAI) function which ultimately aims to secure introduction of a TB vaccine into national immunisation programmes, describes the main steps of a comprehensive approach initiated in early development stages. Reviews Since their first publication in 2012, the stage gate criteria for TB vaccine development have been thoroughly revised with input from a wide range of stakeholders. The first revision resulted in the publication of the online TB Vaccine Development Pathway in 2018. Based upon consultations and as new knowledge and insights emerged from the field, the stage gate criteria have again been updated, and published online in June 2021. “On behalf of the Working Group members I want to thank the whole TB vaccine community for joining us in this huge collaborative effort. The breadth and scope of this project is exceptional. Our deepest hope is that the TB Vaccine Development Pathway will contribute to the creation of safe and effective TB vaccines that will put an end to one of the biggest threats to our global health.“
Georges Thiry, Chairman of the Working Group Feedback from users welcome The field of TB vaccine development is dynamic by nature and users of the TB Vaccine Development Pathway are encouraged to provide us with feedback, ideas and insight by using the contact form of the online tool, with the aim to incorporate new developments and best practice for the benefit of all. About The development of vaccines can be divided into stages, from discovery to implementation. The decision to move a vaccine candidate to the next stage is challenging. The TB Vaccine Development Pathway serves as a guidance tool to help developers consider all the stages of development and to advance a vaccine to its next stage of development. The TB Vaccine Development Pathway was established by a team of scientific and technical experts from TBVI and IAVI with the input of the TB vaccine community. The tool has been developed on behalf of the Global TB Vaccine Partnership (GTBVP) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. More information Please visit the online TB Vaccine Development Pathway Read the article The TB vaccine development pathway – An innovative approach to accelerating global TB vaccine development Brochure ‘ TB Vaccine Development Pathway 2021 - Stage Gate Criteria for TB vaccine development’

Recently, Tuberculosis published the article The TB vaccine development pathway – An innovative approach to accelerating global TB vaccine development . The publication emphasizes the importance of a diverse TB vaccine pipeline to address TB-specific challenges in vaccine development. Individual vaccine candidates must be advanced rationally and the global pipeline must be managed in a more responsive and resource-efficient way, especially in the current constrained funding environment. The TB Vaccine Development Pathway has been developed to provide information and guidance for TB vaccine development from discovery to implementation. The Pathway is underpinned by generic and TB vaccine-specific guidelines, regulatory frameworks, and best practice, and was compiled by a multi-disciplinary team of scientific and technical experts with the input of the TB vaccine community. The Pathway is a unique tool to guide and accelerate the development of TB vaccine candidates and may be useful for other vaccine development fields. Free open access article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tube.2020.102040

6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines in Toulouse postponed to 2020. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Working Group on New TB Vaccines has announced that a Virtual Global Forum on TB Vaccines will be convened in April 2021 and the 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines in Toulouse, France will be postponed to 22 - 24 February 2022. Click here for the full statement on COVID-19. The virtual Global Forum will focus specifically on the theme of “Advancing TB Vaccine in the time of COVID-19”. It will provide an overview of the state of the field and recent progress in TB vaccine R&D against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic; and convene researchers, developers, funders and other stakeholders remotely to discuss opportunities and challenges for TB vaccine R&D in these unprecedented times. More details about the Virtual Global Forum on TB Vaccines will be available shortly on their website . Click here for information about the 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccines.