Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has begun the clinical trials of the novel tuberculosis vaccine MTBVAC in India on Sunday. Developed by Spanish biopharma player Biofabri in collaboration with Bharat Biotech, MTBVAC is derived from a human strain of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. It holds promise as a more effective and long-lasting alternative to the BCG vaccine, the only tuberculosis (TB) vaccine currently available. The over-a-century-old BGC offers limited protection against pulmonary TB, the most common and transmissible form of the disease.
The trial is a major step in the fight against one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases that kills over 1.6 million people annually and and infects more than 10 million worldwide each year. These clinical trials aim to assess the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of MTBVAC. India, with the world’s highest TB burden, is a crucial testing ground for MTBVAC.
“After more than three decades of research, it is a giant step to test in adults and adolescents in the country where 28 per cent of the world’s TB cases accumulate and concludes that more effort and funding is needed to combat TB, which remains one of the world’s leading infectious causes of death, especially in India,” Business Standard quoted Esteban Rodriguez, CEO of Biofabri, as saying.
Krishna Ella, executive chairman Bharat Biotech, said, “Our quest for a more effective vaccine against Tuberculosis received a big boost today, with clinical trials in India. Our goal to develop TB vaccines to prevent disease in adults and adolescents has taken a big step today. We are honored to partner with BioFabri.”
