The Tuberculosis Vaccines Pipeline
Pipeline • 2013June 2013 Where are we going, where have we been? By Mike Frick Since the 2012 Pipeline Report, results from phase II trials and advances in preclinical development have brought the pipeline for new TB vaccines into sharper focus, even as correlates of protective immunity against TB remain elusive. Nearly empty in 2000, the current…
The Tuberculosis Diagnostics Pipeline
Pipeline • 2013June 2013 By Colleen Daniels Currently, smear microscopy and mycobacterial culture are the most widely used diagnostic tests, but microscopy, though relatively fast, is too inaccurate鈥攎issing over half of cases1鈥攚hile culture is accurate but slow, taking from two to eight weeks to produce a definitive result. These tests are simply not accurate and rapid enough…
TAG Applauds $12 Billion Replenishment of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Statement / Press • 2013Treatment Action Group applauds the donors who have helped make it possible to save more lives by raising a record-breaking $12 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the next three years. TAG also commends the Obama administration for its generous match of one dollar for every two dollars contributed by other donors, which helped to drive up funding commitments in the current replenishment round.
Engagement in Care: A Final Frontier of HIV Medicine
TAGline • 2013Getting more HIV-positive people linked to and retained in care requires innovation and research By Tim Horn Viral-load suppression remains the holy grail of HIV care. Its associations with AIDS-free survival and a profound reduction in transmission risk are well established. To maximize the odds of getting viral load undetectable and keeping it there, numerous…
U.S. TB Control: From Confidence to Crisis
TAGline • 2013Funding cuts and shifting budgetary priorities threaten tuberculosis gains By Coco Jervis The United States is losing ground in its fight against the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic within its own borders. Sequestration and shifting priorities of Congress and the Obama administration have led to a waning of political support and resources for domestic and global TB…
Adenovirus Vaccine Vectors and HIV Acquisition Risk: The View from the Summit
Publication • 2013On September 19th, 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored a daylong mini-summit to discuss the safety of adenovirus vaccine vectors in populations at risk for HIV infection.
A Necessary Transformation
TAGline • 2013Simultaneous, not sequential, evaluations of novel drug regimens needed to speed TB treatment research By Lindsay McKenna An example of a multi-arm multi-stage (MAMS) phase II trial design. At the first interim analysis, novel regimen 2 is considered to lack sufficient benefit compared with the control and is not taken forward to stage 2. At…
Beyond ARVs: Advocacy for Non-AIDS Disease Management
TAGline • 2013by Tim Horn Fact: If we鈥檙e going to make headway in preventing and treating non-AIDS-related health complications among people with HIV, which are very much on the rise and a serious risk to disease-free survival, we鈥檙e going to need the full-on cooperation of pharmaceutical companies manufacturing and developing drugs for non-HIV diseases. Enter Micardis (telmisartan),…
Treatment Action Group and European AIDS Treatment Group Applaud UNITAID Agreement to Reduce the Cost of GeneXpert Rapid TB Test
Statement / Press • 2012Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) welcome the announcement that a deal has been reached among PEPFAR, USAID, UNITAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reduce the price of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF rapid test for tuberculosis (TB).
Retrofitting for Purpose: Treatment Optimization
Pipeline • 2012JULY 2012 By Polly Clayden NOTE: a postscript section at the end of this article includes periodic updates since publication in June 2012. In June 2010, the WHO and UNAIDS launched Treatment 2.0, a strategic approach to the achievement of universal access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to making the most of the role of…