Trial of new TB drug goes ahead

A new drug designed to tackle TB has entered the next stage of its development in South Africa.

The start of a new phase of clinical trialling has been launched by The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium Ltd, Isis Innovation Ltd, the Wellcome Trust and the University of Cape Town.

More than 2,700 children under the age of one will be tested in the trial, all of which were given Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) at birth.

This research represents the first trail of a new preventative TB vaccine in infants for more than 80 years.

Dr Marcos Espinal, executive secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, commented: "The world desperately needs new and better approaches to combat TB.

"The advancement of a new TB vaccine candidate to this stage is an exciting development for all of us who seek to end this terrible epidemic."

However, The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation admitted "there is still a long road ahead" for the vaccine.

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