Tuberculosis

We urgently need new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines to end TB. Now, for the first time in more than 100 years, new TB vaccines are on the horizon.

IAVI collaborates with partners around the world to develop safe, effective, and accessible TB vaccines. Together, we work across our global hubs with a diverse network of partners to advance the most promising TB vaccine candidates from discovery through clinical trials to post-licensure access. We also lead policy and advocacy initiatives, engaging with international partners, to support TB vaccine development and access.

At a glance

TB disease is caused by infection with the airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)
In 2022, 10.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.3 million people died of TB disease
More than 400,000 people fell ill with drug-resistant TB in 2022
TB is the leading cause of death for people living with HIV

We need to deliver on the promise of new TB vaccines

The only available TB vaccine is the century-old bacille Calmette-Guérin, BCG. While this vaccine has efficacy in protecting against severe TB disease, such as TB meningitis, in infants and young children, it is largely ineffective in adolescents and adults, among whom most transmission and disease occurs.

We need multiple effective candidates that work in all populations to meet the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy goal to reduce annual TB deaths by 90% by 2030. New TB vaccines would help break the cycle of the TB pandemic, fight global antimicrobial resistance, advance health equity, avert millions in costs to people with TB and their families, and improve global economic growth for years ahead.

Recent studies have shown that over 25 years, delivering a new TB vaccine that is 50% effective in preventing disease among adolescents and adults would avert up to 76 million new TB cases and 8.5 million deaths. Over the same period, every $1 invested in the delivery of such a vaccine could generate an economic return of $7.

Learn more about the promise of new TB vaccines in this fact sheet

We’re at a critical juncture in TB vaccine development

For the first time in history, multiple TB vaccine candidates are in late-stage development. Across the TB vaccine pipeline, a range of vaccine strategies are being tested in different populations around the world. Work is also underway to develop next-generation vaccines based on mRNA and other promising platforms.

New TB vaccines are within reach — but only with greatly increased and sustained investments. To advance TB vaccine development and meet the 2030 end TB goals, governments must now meet the $1.25 billion annual funding target outlined in the Global Plan to End TB 2023-2030.

We need to remove financial barriers to conducting late-stage studies, support research and development of new, even more promising TB vaccine strategies, test TB vaccines in broader populations, and develop plans to ensure prompt and equitable access to future TB vaccines.

Learn more about the funding need for TB vaccines

We’re advancing efforts to bring new TB vaccines to those who need them

IAVI is partnering with the Spanish biopharmaceutical company Biofabri in the advanced clinical development of the MTBVAC vaccine candidate to see if it prevents TB disease in infants, adolescents, and adults. MTBVAC is the only live, attenuated vaccine candidate derived from M.tb and uses a weakened, harmless form of the pathogen to stimulate an immune response.

We’re also partnering with Moderna to assess a series of mRNA vaccine constructs for immunogenicity (a measure of the ability, strength, and type of immune responses) and protection in preclinical studies.

View IAVI’s full product pipeline

We collaborate with key stakeholders across the field

We’re engaged in a range of TB vaccine policy and advocacy initiatives and technical groups across the field to mobilize resources to advance TB vaccine development and facilitate global access to new TB vaccines.

We host the Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New TB Vaccines through which we co-organize the Global Forum on TB Vaccines.

We co-lead the TB Vaccine Advocacy Roadmap (TB Vax ARM), a global coalition of TB stakeholders that seeks to provide coordinated advocacy efforts in support of the TB vaccine agenda.

IAVI is a member of the Global TB Vaccine Partnership, through which we developed the TB Vaccine Development Pathway in collaboration with the TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI).

IAVI also chairs the TB Roundtable, a coalition of TB advocates, implementers, NGOs, and professional associations committed to expanding and improving U.S. global health policy and tuberculosis programming.