News
The UNITE4TB Consortium announces start of clinical trials
UNITE4TB, an international public-private partnership, which Lygature is proud to be a partner of, has announced the start of its Phase 2B/C clinical trial program. The announcement is a major milestone for the project and the TB community as a whole, helping to advance TB science and enhance the efficiency with which new treatments are delivered.
The TB challenge
TB is a major threat to public health, being among the leading causes of death worldwide. In 2021, the disease claimed the lives of 1.6 million people, making it the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. Drug-resistant TB and long treatment regimens have increased the urgency for action and investment in TB research. For people affected by TB, the most important outcome is rapid access to better regimens of shorter treatment duration and with fewer side effects. UNITE4TB is engaging with key societal stakeholders to ensure that its novel regimens will be made available as efficiently as possible.
Exploring new frontiers
UNITE4TB’s innovative Phase 2B/C trials will test 14 combinations of nine existing drugs, as well as two newly developed candidates (GSK656 and BTZ-043). The ultimate aim is to create regimens that can further improve multidrug-resistant (MDR) treatment, and also be effective for drug-sensitive TB.
Lygature’s role
Lygature played an instrumental role in setting up UNITE4TB and provides overall partnership management, supports communication and dissemination, and co-leads the privacy and ethics work. Remco de Vrueh, Senior Program Manager at Lygature, explains: “Enrolling the first participant is a major milestone that was achieved through a consolidated effort of our public and private partners, with support from the various UNITE4TB external advisory bodies. It is another critical step towards our aim to set a new standard for anti-TB regimen development, and enhancing the efficiency with which new regimens are delivered.”
More information
View this video marking the start of the UNITE4TB phase 2B/C clinical trial program, which kicked off at the trial site in Cape Town, South Africa (copyright: UNITE4TB)
Read more about Lygature’s involvement in UNITE4TB on our website.
Acknowledgment of support
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101007873. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA, Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung e. V. (DZIF), and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). EFPIA/AP contribute to 50% of funding, whereas the contribution of DZIF and the LMU University Hospital Munich has been granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
This communication reflects the author's view. Neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.