Kenya among three African nations in new large-scale TB vaccine clinical trial
Currently, the only approved TB vaccine is the BCG, which provides some protection to children but is not effective in preventing TB in adolescents and adults.
Kenya is among three African nations set to participate in a large-scale clinical trial aimed at testing a promising new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine.
The trial, led by global research organisation IAVI and Spanish biotech firm Biofabri, seeks to assess the effectiveness of the MTBVAC vaccine in preventing TB in adolescents and adults with latent TB infections.
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The study, known as IMAGINE (Investigation of MTBVAC toward Accelerating Global Immunisation for a Neglected Epidemic), is a phase 2b clinical trial that will enrol 4,300 participants across 15 sites in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.
In Kenya, the research will take place at the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Centre for Respiratory Disease Research in Nairobi and the Victoria Biomedical Research Institute in Kisumu.
"MTBVAC is a promising vaccine candidate being evaluated in the IMAGINE trial, a large-scale safety and efficacy trial evaluating the prevention of TB disease in adolescents and adults with latent TB infection in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania," IAVI stated in a release on Thursday.
TB, a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs, spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or spits.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that in 2023, approximately 10.8 million people worldwide developed TB, including 6 million men, 3.6 million women and 1.3 million children.
Population living with TB
In Kenya, the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) found that about 1.1 per cent of the population is currently living with TB.
Many others carry latent TB infections, meaning they have the bacteria but do not exhibit symptoms or spread the disease.
WHO estimates that a quarter of the global population has been infected with TB bacteria, with 5-10 per cent eventually developing symptoms.
Currently, the only approved TB vaccine is the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which provides some protection to children but is not effective in preventing TB in adolescents and adults.
This gap has driven the urgent search for a more effective vaccine.
"A TB vaccine effective in children, adolescents and adults would save millions of lives otherwise lost to TB over time," IAVI stated.
According to IAVI, the MTBVAC vaccine has shown promising results in early trials. Its phase 2 study demonstrated a strong immune response and a safety profile comparable to the BCG vaccine.
"The IMAGINE trial is an important new effort to develop a vaccine capable of combating the world's deadliest disease," said Lewis Schrager, head of IAVI's TB vaccine development efforts.
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