To promote research on tuberculosis and accelerate the experimentation of new therapies, also effective against drug-resistant forms, the new international consortium UNITE4TB (Academia and industry united innovation and treatment for tuberculosis) is born: formed by 30 public and private partners of 13 Countries, including the State University of Milan, will carry out a seven-year project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework program with a total budget of 185 million euros.
Worldwide, tuberculosis is still among the top ten causes of death and the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. The emergence of drug-resistant forms is recognized as a global public health challenge and is attracting worldwide interest and investment.
With approximately 40 clinical trial sites spread across four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa and South America), UNITE4TB aims to accelerate and improve the clinical evaluation of combinations of new and old drugs. Thanks to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and other partners, UNITE4TB will have access to most of the drug compounds that are in the final stages of pre-clinical research and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. The consortium will also use artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for selecting the most promising drug candidates for phase 3 of clinical research, that is, large-scale research.
The University of Milan, with a budget of more than 400,000 euros, will be engaged in the involvement of international governmental and non-governmental agencies and authorities, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Fund for the fight against ‘AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, UNITAID (an international initiative to fund research and development of diagnostic tests and drugs for HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), and will play a key role in interactions with communities affected by tuberculosis, which will be brought together under a committee in order to guarantee their contribution to research.
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