On January 30th and February 1st, the second Annual Meeting of the TBVAC2020 consortium was held in Les Diablerets, Switzerland. The meeting was a unique opportunity for all partners to be updated on specific activities within their work package, as well as to attend an intense programme of presentations from all scientists of the consortium.
The TBVI symposium “Latest progress on TB biomarkers and TB vaccines” was organised in combination with the TBVAC2020 Annual Meeting and attended by most TBVAC2020 members.
TB vaccine R&D
TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative TBVI Les Diablerets Meeting
163 TB vaccine researchers, developers and key stakeholders from Europe, US, Africa, Asia, and Australia met from January 30th to February 2nd for the TBVI /TBVAC2020 annual meeting in the Swiss mountain village of Les Diablerets. This gathering of TB vaccine R&D scientists from 70 research institutes, universities, industry, funding agencies, technical agencies and other partners focused on the presentation of early results from work in the context of TBVAC2020, funded principally by the European Commission with additional co-funding from Switzerland, South Korea and Australia, and leveraged funding from Norway and the UK.
TBVAC2020, a 4 year R&D project is managed by TBVI, a non-profit foundation facilitating the discovery and development of new TB vaccines accessible and affordable for all. TBVI provides essential services including technical support for product and clinical development, knowledge development platforms and project development and management to its R&D partners. By 2019 TBVAC2020 is expected to deliver:
- New vaccine candidates identified to diversify the TB vaccine global pipeline
- New promising vaccine candidates selected for preclinical and early clinical evaluation
- Novel promising correlates of protection identified and validated
- Involvement of SMEs and private industry in these vaccine and biomarker developments
- New IP registrations submitted and approved
- Peer reviewed and open access publications
The Diablerets meeting also included a Symposium covering the topics: TB biomarkers – from discovery to clinical development; TB vaccine R&D – a strategic update; Preventive and therapeutic TB vaccination to prevent AMR, treat AMR and possibly shorten TB treatment.
Talks are currently underway between CTVD and TBVI to explore how both the venues of the CTVD annual meeting and Les Diablerets can best be used to further bring together key players and advance the TB vaccine R&D global agenda.