An experimental vaccine created by GlaxoSmithKline could stop tuberculosis development in half of patients who get it. It could be the first new shot against TB in 100 years, according to a study covered by Reuters.
GSK designed the vaccine to stop latent TB from becoming active and causing sickness.
The results of an ongoing trial of the vaccine were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings mark a milestone in the fight against TB given the failure of other vaccine candidates, but the 54 percent efficacy rate for adults in the trial is low compared to immunizations for other diseases, Reuters reports.
The study revealed 10 of the 1,786 adults vaccinated twice developed active pulmonary TB, compared with 22 of the 1,787 given two placebo injections after a mean follow-up of about two years.
"It's the first time we really tested the biological potential of our vaccine, and we think that there is a lot of additional improvement now that we can bring," Emmanuel Hanon, GSK's head of vaccines research, told Reuters.