Dear partner,

I'm happy to send you the first electronic newsletter of the TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI). With this letter we want to update our partners, allies and everyone else who's interested in our activities. You receive this newsletter because your e-mail address is known to us, and because we think you might be interested in our activities.

Please don't hesitate to forward this mail to anyone who could also be interested in reading it. If they want to receive their own e-newsletter in the future, they can subscribe on our website via the link below. If you're not interested in receiving our newsletter anymore, you can unsubcribe via the unsubscribe button at the end of this newsletter.

I hope you will enjoy reading our news!

Jelle Thole,
Director TBVI
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Copenhagen - On 7 May Prof. Peter Lawætz Andersen of the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark, research partner and steering committee member of TBVI, received the prestigious Novo Nordisk prize. He received the prize of DKK 1.500.000 (around € 200.000) for his pioneering research on the development of vaccines against tuberculosis. The prize is awarded annually by the Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation as a reward for outstanding medical research or other research efforts that could benefit medical science.

Peter Andersen, Vice President of Vaccine Research and Development within SSI, is extremely happy with this prize. “It is the acknowledgement of the important work I’m doing together with my team. It encourages the international collaboration with other scientists in the field, because you cannot do this type of work on your own. But most of all, it is a recognition that new vaccines to combat tuberculosis are urgently needed. Through this prize I hope to create more awareness about this devastating disease that kills almost 2 million people per year, and the fact that without new vaccines TB cannot be eliminated.” Read more

Europe has to stay on the forefront in the development of new tuberculosis vaccines. Early February, a large majority of European parliaementarians supported a resolution for the European Commission, the Council and WHO to stress the importance of this issue. TBVI takes up a key position in the text of the resolution. See also the message on our website

In the past months, TBVI has introduced an innovative funding model to finance the research and development of new vaccines against tuberculosis. Receiving the support of the European Parlement was a great step in the political process and gives good hope for the future.

In the plan, European governments or agencies are asked to provide guarantees to make it possible for TBVI to take up money gradually from financial institutions, according to the progress of vaccine developments. Countries will thus not have to provide any cash; the investment will be spread over time and the loan will be repaid through the profits of the final vaccines.

TBVI will continue working hard to develop the plan and seek the political support that is needed to realise it. Read the summary of TBVIs funding plan

Paris – European politicians, tuberculosis (TB) advocates and health advisers gathered on March 24 in Paris to discuss novel approaches that would enable scientific discoveries to be translated into TB vaccines.

Speakers at the event, organised by TBVI in collaboration with several partners, took a stand against counterproductive cuts to public health spending. A strong call was made for investment in vaccines, among other by Dr Joris Vandeputte who presented TBVI’s new funding model. Jorge Sampaio, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Stop TB Partnership, stressed that Tuberculosis damages economies worldwide, destroys families and is keeping millions of people in poverty. Read more

As of 1 April, TBVI’s Governance Board is expanded with three new members:

•Michèle Boccoz, ambassador of France in Belgium, former director international affairs of Institute Pasteur;
•Paul-Henri Lambert, Director International Advanced Course of Vaccinology, University of Geneva, formerly chairman of TBVI’s Steering Committee;
•Douglas Young, Fleming Professor of Medical Microbiology, Imperial College London, and Head of Division of Mycobacterial Research, National Institute for Medical Research, London, formerly member of TBVI’s Steering Committee.

The Governance Board, chaired by Dr. Onno Ruding, former Minister of Finance of The Netherlands, will utilize its extensive expertise and experience to further promote its role as a vehicle that brings together research partners and companies. The Board is dedicated to supporting the development of urgently needed new TB vaccines and Read more about the new members of the Steering Committee and the Clinical Development Team

TBVI and its partners are involved in several meetings, symposia and courses. Interesting to mention are:

Symposium: New TB vaccines for the future, 17-18 October, Madrid.
TBVI, together with the University of Zaragoza and Fundacion Ramon Areces, will organize an international symposium. This symposium will join scientists and researchers, world leaders in the field of investigation of host-pathogen interactions and new vaccines against TB, to present to the scientific community their efforts and the results of the latest research in vaccines against TB.

42nd World Union Conference on Lung Health, 26-30 October, Lille, France.
The conference theme this year is "Partnerships for Scaling-up and Care," which will highlight the vital importance of collaboration in common efforts to address the conditions affecting lung health. TBVI, together with Institut Pasteur Lille and Aeras will organize a symposium 'Partnerships to Accelerate TB Vaccine Development' on Friday 28 October, 14.30-16.30.
See the complete agenda including links to these meetings on our website