India (Vax-Before-Travel News)<\/p>\n
Two experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccines, VPM1002 and Immuvac, were found to be safe and well-tolerated in a major Phase 3 trial involving thousands of\u00a0healthy household contacts of smear-positive TB patients in India.<\/p>\n
However, neither vaccine significantly reduced the overall incidence of microbiologically confirmed TB or pulmonary TB.<\/p>\n
The PreVenTB trial results, published in The BMJ on April 9, 2026, showed that the efficacy of VPM1002 was 21.4% against all forms of TB and 19.5% against pulmonary TB, both of which were not statistically significant.<\/p>\n
However, VPM1002 showed 50.4% efficacy (95% confidence interval of 0.8% to 75.2%) against extrapulmonary TB.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Immuvac demonstrated 33.2% efficacy against extrapulmonary TB, which was also not significant.<\/p>\n
A post-hoc analysis revealed particularly strong results in children aged 6 to 14 years, with VPM1002 showing an efficacy of 64.6% against all forms of TB.<\/p>\n
Both vaccines performed better against extrapulmonary TB in participants with positive tuberculin skin tests, showing around 65% efficacy, and were well tolerated, with mild local reactions occurring in about one-third of recipients. They also induced specific immune responses, such as polyfunctional CD4+ T cells. However, they did not prevent latent TB infection overall.<\/p>\n
The study authors concluded that while the vaccines are safe, they do not protect against all forms of TB, including pulmonary TB. VPM1002 showed meaningful efficacy against the more challenging-to-diagnose extrapulmonary form, especially in certain subgroups.<\/p>\n
For context, the existing BCG vaccine remains the only licensed TB vaccine worldwide.<\/p>\n
As of 2026, various BCG strains are routinely administered in approximately 156 of 194 countries with moderate-to-high TB incidence. Common strains include Danish 1331, Bulgarian SL-222, Russian, and Tokyo 172-1, and about 10 different substrains have been documented globally, with the Danish strain being the most widely used in many regions.<\/p>\n
In 2023, approximately 323 million BCG doses were administered worldwide, primarily to newborns to protect against severe forms of childhood TB.<\/p>\n
In the United States, BCG is not part of the routine immunization program due to low TB incidence. It is used only selectively for high-risk individuals, such as certain travelers or infants with ongoing exposure.<\/p>\n
Recently, the BCG vaccine has been deployed in numerious cancer treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n