Breakthroughs Blog: Tuberculosis

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, BioVersys AG https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial-stewardship/partnership-aims-foster-development-drug-non-tb-mycobacteria announced a new agreement with Shionogi to jointly develop its novel drug for treating non-tuberculosis (TB) mycobacteria, which affects approximately 250,000 people per year, primarily in North America and Asia. Shionogi will provide $6.3 million as an upfront investment for the development of the drug candidate, BV500, through clinical studies and licensing. BioVersys has stated that the candidate has the potential to become a best-in-class therapeutic for non-TB mycobacteria infections, which are currently treated with a lengthy and complex regimen.Scientists at King’s College London have developed a new class of antifungal compounds that could lead to a promising new tool against Candida auris, a dangerous fungal pathogen and a growing global threat. The researchers modified an existing class of antifungal drugs called azoles (which can lose their effectiveness as C. auris becomes resistant to them) to be more impervious to resistance, an approach that has demonstrated promise in lab and preclinical studies. If the new antifungals continue to succeed in further preclinical studies, this research could pave the way for a new, first-in-class antifungal that continues to work in the face of resistance, helping reduce mortality and limit the spread of resistant strains of bacteria.A research team from the University of California, Riverside has made a significant advance in our basic understanding of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite, a step toward the development of new and improved drugs for malaria. The researchers identified two key proteins within the parasite’s cells that control gene expression and used advanced genetic tools to reduce the expression of these proteins, which led to the death of the parasite, verifying their essential role and potential as a drug target. Crucially, these proteins also have no human counterparts. These findings help pinpoint essential targets for developing future drugs that are effective and have minimal side effects.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Newly published research suggests that a patient-centered approach, combining novel diagnostic tools with targeted therapies, could be a game changer in tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Current TB treatment requires a complicated, months-long regimen that can be hard for patients to adhere to, leading to treatment failure and the emergence of drug-resistant TB strains. The researchers behind the new study suggest that new diagnostic tools that can better distinguish between patients with less and more severe forms of TB combined with, respectively, shorter or longer, more resource-intensive treatment courses could improve patient outcomes, reduce the burden on health systems, and limit the emergence of drug resistance.Last week, Bavarian Nordic announced the start of the first of two clinical trials testing the use of its Jynneos mpox/smallpox vaccine in vulnerable populations, including infants and children two years old and younger and pregnant or breastfeeding women. If the vaccine demonstrates safety and efficacy, the trial data could help support expanded access to the vaccine for the most vulnerable populations. The trial is being led by the University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa and supported financially by EDCTP3 and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.A recently published study found that a single-dose, long-lasting flu drug could provide protection for an entire flu season, offering longer and more effective protection than our current seasonal flu vaccines. The clinical trial followed 5,000 healthy adults for the entire duration of the most recent flu season, finding that the highest dose of the drug provided more than 76 percent protection compared with a placebo shot. The drug has also demonstrated efficacy against a wide variety of flu strains in a previous study in mice, compared to the season influenza vaccines, which are designed (prior to flu season based on expert assumptions) to protect against at least three of the seasonal strains that circulate each season and whose efficacy depends on how well they match the flu strains that end up circulating.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. A new study found that LC16m8, an attenuated vaccinia virus strain originally developed in Japan for smallpox and later approved for mpox in 2022, induced strong responses and was safe in mice, monkeys, and healthy adult humans, potentially paving the way for the development of broadly effective mpox vaccines. The researchers vaccinated mice with LC16m8 to see how it protected them from mpox, later vaccinating monkeys and healthy adult volunteers as well to study their blood samples for immune responses and monitor them for safety. The results underscore LC16m8’s potential as a safe, effective, and scalable choice for mpox vaccination and also provide a blueprint for developing next-generation vaccines against other poxviruses and emerging pathogens.Researchers from Abertay University and Bangor University have developed a prototype blood test that can detect up to five infections at the point of care, providing results quickly via a smartphone app. The tool, which was piloted using tuberculosis as a test case, showed high sensitivity and an ability to accurately identify cases. The speed and convenience, as well as the much lower cost compared to lab testing, demonstrate the test’s potential to be a game changer in ensuring access to timely testing and diagnosis, particularly in remote locations and other settings lacking laboratory infrastructure.  The results of a Phase 3 clinical trial published last week found that Moderna’s combination COVID and flu shot outperformed existing individual vaccines for both viruses. The combination shot uses the same mRNA technology as Moderna’s approved vaccine for COVID-19, but there are no currently approved mRNA flu vaccines. In a trial that included more than 8,000 adults, the combination vaccines generated higher antibody levels for COVID and all but one influenza strain in trial participants who got the combination vaccine compared to those who got individual vaccines. A combination vaccine could help boost vaccination levels for both viruses, and an mRNA vaccine, in particular, could also speed up production because they are faster to make than current flu shots.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. A new study found that more than three million children, many from Southeast Asia and Africa, died in 2022 due to antibiotic-resistant infections, underscoring the urgent need for new and improved antibiotics to treat bacterial infections that are less likely to lead to the emergence of resistance, as well as new and improved antibiotics to address drug-resistant infections. Additionally, the study highlights the critical threat that antimicrobial resistance poses to children, in particular, who are highly vulnerable to infections, calling attention to the need for antibiotics that are safe and effective in this population.Researchers from Tulane University have developed a new smartphone-sized device that can deliver tuberculosis (TB) test results at the point of care in less than an hour, an innovation that could transform TB diagnosis, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where more than 90 percent of new TB cases occur. The low-cost, battery-powered device is the first that can detect the bacterium that causes TB in saliva in addition to blood and sputum, making it acceptable for use in children and people living with HIV, who may not be able to produce sputum. The technology was tested in children ages 1 to 16 in the Dominican Republic and demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity.A recent study found that a novel antibiotic compound is as effective at removing Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the current standard of care. The currently available antibiotics to treat skin infections caused by MRSA and other Staphylococcus strains can cause unpleasant side effects and are becoming less effective as these bacteria develop resistance to them. These promising results enable the researchers to continue preclinical development for the compound, specifically testing whether the compound can be incorporated into gels that can be applied to the skin to treat skin infections caused by MRSA and other bacteria, preventing the need for prolonged courses of current antibiotics.