Dutch government gives Euro 18m to TB vaccine project
The Dutch foreign ministry is investing Euro 18.4m over four years in the development of a new tuberculosis vaccine. Crucell is carrying out this project in collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) Tuberculosis Foundation and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AVI).
The Dutch foreign ministry is investing Euro 18.4m over four years in the development of a new tuberculosis vaccine. Crucell is carrying out this project in collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) Tuberculosis Foundation and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AVI).
A first candidate vaccine, Aeras 402/Crucell Adenovirus35 TB, went into clinical trials at the end of October.
The TB vaccine currently used is based on bacillus Calmette-Guerin and was developed 85 years ago. The Aeras vaccine project aims to use a 'prime-boost' strategy with an improved BCG TB vaccine given initially and another kind of vaccine given later as a booster. The Dutch cancer institute has developed a method to identify the location of TB and BCG organisms inside the cells.
The €18m comes from a €30.4m fund that the Dutch foreign ministry's Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) makes available for TB diagnosis and treatment. Crucell said that the Dutch government's investment is the highest granted by any government for Aeras.