Major milestone: Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech starts clinical trials of TB vaccine 

The clinical trials are being carried out by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Biofabri, the noted vaccine developer from Spain.

Hyderabad: In a major milestone towards having a vaccine for tuberculosis, the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech has announced that it has started clinical trials in India of MTBVAC, the Spanish tuberculosis vaccine, the first live attenuated vaccine of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from a human, a press release said.

The clinical trials are being carried out by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Biofabri, the noted vaccine developer from Spain. Trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MTBVAC have started with a pivotal safety, immunogenicity and efficacy trial planned to start in 2025.

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After more than three decades of research, Esteban Rodriguez, CEO of Biofabri says “It is a giant step to test in adults and adolescents in the country where 28 percent of the world’s TB cases accumulate”.

At present, BCG (Bacillus Calmette and Guérin), which is an attenuated variant of the bovine TB pathogen, is being under use worldwide. It is more than a hundred years old and has a very limited effect on pulmonary tuberculosis, which is responsible for the transmission of the disease, Bharat Biotech said.

Dr. Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman, Bharat Biotech added, “Our quest for a more effective vaccine against Tuberculosis received a big boost today, with clinical trials in India. Our goal to develop TB vaccines to prevent disease in adults and adolescents has taken a big step today. We are honoured to partner with BioFabri, Dr. Esteban Rodriguez and Dr. Carlos Martin in this noble effort to reinvent TB vaccines.”