Innovation in Tuberculosis

ended

The objective of INNOVA4TB is to enhance and strengthen the collaborative research among sectors and to form a network aimed to perform high-quality and translational research in the field of diagnosis and management of tuberculosis (TB). The consortium is constituted by 12 institutions from 8 countries that combine complementary and synergic expertise: clinical management (hospitals), basic science and new technologies (academic institutions), and industrial development and entrepreneurship culture (SMEs). The exchanges between the institutions allow the participants to progress in their career perspectives. TB is one of the major infectious diseases worldwide, and the emergence and spread of drug resistant cases is a public health threat. However, the conventional methods used for diagnosis and drug-susceptibility testing are not enough for controlling the disease. In addition, all TB patients, independently of their age, gender, severity of the disease and type of responsible strain, follow the same treatment duration (up to 20 months in drug resistant cases), which often leads to high frequency of adverse events, suboptimal adherence to treatment, and poor outcome. A transition from programmatic to personalized management of TB is needed. Our proposal will develop innovative technologies and approaches in order to improve the individual risk assessment for TB development, to rapidly diagnose active TB, to detect the drug susceptibility of the strain, to design tailor-made therapies, and to use biomarkers to guide and individualize the duration of antimicrobial therapy. This is of great importance for improving the quality of life of patients and ensuring treatment success, as well as for economic reasons for the healthcare system.