SPANISH
TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE – SCI & TECH
News:
Clinical trials of
Spanish tuberculosis vaccine MTBVAC begin in India
What's
in the news?
●
Bharat Biotech will conduct phase 3 of the
trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the Spanish TB vaccine
(MTBVAC).
MTBVAC:
●
MTBVAC is the only vaccine undergoing
clinical trials based on the genetically
modified form of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, a pathogen that causes disease.
●
The new vaccine contains all the antigens
in the present strains that infect human.
Developed
by:
●
It is developed in the laboratory of the University of Zaragoza with
contributions from Dr Brigitte Gicquel
of the Pasteur Institute, Paris.
Objectives
of Clinical Trials in India:
Safety
and Immunogenicity:
●
The ongoing trials in India aim to
evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MTBVAC, with plans for a pivotal
Phase 3 trial in 2025.
Population
Significance:
●
Studying the vaccine's efficacy in India,
with its high TB burden, is crucial for advancing TB vaccine research and
addressing the global TB epidemic.
Significance:
●
MTBVAC vaccine promised to be a more effective and potentially
longer-lasting vaccine than the BCG vaccine.
●
Promise vaccine for newborns, adults and
adolescents for whom there is currently no effective vaccine.
Go
back to basics:
BCG
Vaccine:
●
BCG vaccine is an attenuated variant of
bovine TB pathogen and more than a 100 year old so have limited effect on
pulmonary tuberculosis that responsible for the transmission of the disease.