Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation

The overall goal of Aeras is to markedly lower tuberculosis incidence and prevalence through vaccination. This goal can likely best be achieved by developing a portfolio of vaccines that protect individuals from infection, prevent infected individuals from progressing to active disease, and decrease the transmission capacity of those with active disease. Aeras has outlined four primary goals for 2012-2016: 1)Complete clinical trials of current candidates; 2) Build a robust and diverse pipeline of new TB vaccine candidates; 3) refine TB vaccine candidate selection and advancement; and 4) Strengthen and diversify the funding base by building new collaborations and partnerships that advance tuberculosis vaccine development.

Aeras operates on a partnership model and supports the development of the world’s most promising TB vaccine candidates by working in collaboration with a diverse global community of scientists and researchers from academia, industry, governments and funders.

With world-class in-house capacity in preclinical research, immunology, regulatory affairs, clinical development and vaccine manufacturing, Aeras is uniquely qualified to serve as a critical translational bridge from research to licensure and from the laboratory to manufacturing.

Aeras and its partners have six TB vaccines undergoing clinical testing and there is a robust pipeline of early stage candidates in the pipeline being evaluated against globally agreed upon stringent scientific criteria for advancement. Aeras and its partners published a framework for TB vaccine development for the next 10 years in March 2012. In February 2012, Aeras and its partners published findings from a major TB vaccine clinical trial. While the trial proved the vaccine to be not effective in preventing TB in infants, it added significanlty to the body of knowledge on TB vaccine and its findings are being applied to other candidates in development.