Aeras, a US non-profit organization and Statens Serum Institut (SSI), a company owned by the Danish government, will form a joint product development team and Aeras will provide funding for its activities.
Under the terms of the agreement SSI’s HyVac4 TB vaccine candidate will be developed as a booster vaccine to extend the protection of the only TB vaccine currently available, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG).
Although the BCG vaccine offers protection against the most serious forms of TB in childhood, its efficacy wanes over a period of 10 to15 years after the vaccination. A need for a supplementary or alternative vaccination approach has emerged in the last two decades.
“The agreement with SSI is an important step towards the development of a new TB vaccine, which the world so desperately needs,” stated Dr Jerald Sadoff, president and chief executive officer of Aeras. “Aeras aims to work with leading public and private organizations around the world to bring an improved TB vaccine to market within the next seven to 10 years.”