The four EDCTP-funded late-stage TB vaccine development projects: POR TB Consortium, priMe and MTBVAC-Newborns Phase 2a and MTBVACN3, meet on a regular basis to exchange knowledge and experiences. This year’s meeting, organised by TBVI, took place on 5 April 2023 in a hybrid way, with some project partners present in Les Diablerets in Switzerland where they attended the TBVI partner meeting, and other participants attending online.
In addition to sharing the latest developments from the projects, partners presented project-specific matters of interest to all partners. The POR-TB consortium gave a presentation on genome sequencing-based genotyping of M. tuberculosis in clinical trials, the priMe project shared experiences from two clinical trial sites regarding community mobilisation and recruitment, and MTBVAC presented the organisation of their recently started Phase III study.
While it is recognised that each project follows its own path, they also share similar experiences and challenges. All projects acknowledge the importance of timely and appropriate involvement of the community and celebrated the creativity, flexibility and persistence of staff at clinical trial sites, which proved crucial during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The knowledge exchange meetings are part of the EDCTP-supported TB vaccine coordination project that promotes collaboration among the different organisations involved in the EDCTP-funded TB vaccines projects as well as with the broader TB vaccine research community in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.