Scientists at Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development will conduct a clinical trial of an investigational vaccine for tuberculosis, the world’s second deadliest infectious disease.
The vaccine, which is called AERAS-422, is a modernized version of the current Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) TB vaccine, which was eveloped nearly 90 years ago. The BCG vaccine is not considered very effective in preventing pulmonary TB in adolescents and adults, which now is the population with the highest rates of TB.
With an estimated 1.8 million deaths and nearly 9.3 million new cases of tuberculosis diagnosed in 2007, finding a safe and effective vaccine is a global priority, said Daniel Hoft, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher at SLU’s Center for Vaccine Development and director of infectious diseases, allergy and immunology at Saint Louis University.
“The TB vaccine field has made tremendous progress over the past 10 years,” Hoft said. “Not only is the start of the clinical trial of AERAS-422 another important benchmark in the search for more effective TB vaccines, it is also an opportunity to learn more about cellular immunity, which is less understood but crucially important in developing TB vaccines.”
The live recombinant investigational vaccine that SLU will study is designed to interrupt TB at all stages of infection and protect against all forms of TB. The research is funded by Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, a non-profit research organization supported primarily by private foundations and government aid agencies. Saint Louis University is the only institution conducting the Phase 1 clinical trial.
Other institutions collaborating on the initiative are Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford; South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative at the University of Cape Town; and Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University.