THE NETHERLANDS GIVES 18.4 MILLION EUROS TO FIGHT TB

As extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) threatens to make the TB pandemic worse, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made a four-year investment of 18.4 million euros in the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to develop new TB vaccines. Aeras is a product development partnership in collaboration with Crucell, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute and other Dutch organizations.

Tuberculosis kills nearly 2 million people a year, and XDR-B is on the rise, particularly in Eastern Europe and countries on the Baltic Sea, according to Aeras. The current TB vaccine is more than 85 years old and provides only marginal protection for infants and very little, if any, protection beyond childhood. Aeras' goal is to develop new, safe and effective vaccine regimens that prevent TB in children, adolescents and adults.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also investing 12 million euros to develop new TB drugs and diagnostics, the current versions of which are also insufficient to combat the growing TB pandemic, Aeras said. The ministry's combined investment is the largest contribution to the group by any country.

Aeras is pursuing a prime-boost vaccine strategy in which an improved TB vaccine, the prime, will be given initially, and another type of vaccine, the boost, will be given at a specified period of time after the prime vaccination.