Even more worrying is the development of a new, multi-drug-resistant form of TB (MDS-TB). Five-hundred thousand people have contracted the disease this year, with more than half of patients dying or untreatable. The number of patients is growing on both a global and a European scale. 'The only solution is to develop a new vaccine,' says Peters. 'The estimated cost of treating MDR-TB and the resulting loss of economic productivity are ten times that of developing a vaccine.' Recent calculations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) support this assertion. In October 2014, 400 million euros was earmarked for the fight against tuberculosis. But according to Peters, these funds are not being invested in the fundamental research necessary for developing a new vaccine.
Peter Peters is the director of Maastricht University's Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging Institute. 'The first step in the race for a new vaccine is to conduct nano-biological research to identify resistant TB-bacteria, the results of which can then be used to develop an effective vaccine.' This according to Peters, who was the first to identify 'normal' tuberculosis bacteria in white blood cells using precision microscopy. This new research technique requires expensive instruments.
Threat to Europe
MDR-TB bacteria is posing a growing threat to Europe. While the number of cases in the Netherlands dropped slightly in 2014, it is expected to increase again this year due to the growing incidence in neighbouring countries. According to the WHO, 'The European region carries nearly a quarter of the global burden of drug-resistant cases of TB.' Drug-resistant TB is not only harder to treat and cure, it also puts limited healthcare budgets under increasing pressure. Treating MDR-TB is one hundred times more expensive on an individual basis than treating non-resistant TB. For this reason, the current Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union has decided to hold the first Ministerial EU Conference on Tuberculosis, with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation in healthcare and TB prevention.
WHO: New vaccine necessary 'A new vaccine would prevent the spread of all forms of TB, including MDR-TB, reduce the healthcare burden in Europe, and save costs,' says Tom Evans, CEO of Aeras, a non-profit biotech organisation that is hoping to develop a new vaccine. According to the WHO, achieving the ambitious goal of realising a 95% reduction in the mortality rate and a 90% reduction in the incidence of new infections requires both a new vaccine as well as sufficient diagnostic resources and medications.
'Collaboration between product development partnerships in the Netherlands and developing countries will ultimately help us develop a new vaccine,' says Evans. Peters agrees. 'Enough financial and procurement support from all relevant parties will help us to one day eradicate this devastating disease altogether.'