New Aragonese App to promote exercise among kidney patients
17 March, 2022
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17 March, 2022
- This agreement will guarantee the supply of the future vaccine in more than 70 countries in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a high incidence of tuberculosis
- MTBVAC has been designed by the team of Professor Carlos Martín, principal investigator of the Mycobacterial Genetics Group at the University of Zaragoza.
- In the coming months, phase 3 of clinical trials will begin
- For Biofabri, the agreement is of strategic importance since it reaffirms its purpose of putting a globally accessible vaccine on the market at affordable prices in low- and middle-income countries.
- Bharat Biotech is a multinational biopharmaceutical company with recognized biotechnological and scientific capabilities.
- MTBVAC is a global public-private project that will mark a milestone in the field of vaccination and in addressing this highly contagious disease with high morbidity and mortality.
Biofabri is a biopharmaceutical company of the Zendal group based in Porriño (Galicia), which has the objective of researching, developing and manufacturing vaccines for humans.
Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) is a multinational biotechnology company headquartered in the city of Hyderabad, India, engaged in the discovery, product development and manufacturing of vaccines and other biotherapeutics.
MTBVAC is being manufactured and developed by BIOFABRI, in collaboration with the University of Zaragoza, IAVI and TBVI (the Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative). MTBVAC has been designed by the team of Professor Carlos Martín, principal investigator of the Mycobacterial Genetics Group at the University of Zaragoza.
This agreement between Biofabri and BHARAT BIOTECH would guarantee global production in the supply of the future vaccine in more than 70 countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis, such as India, a country with the highest burden of tuberculosis in the world, 25%. of the total.
MTBVAC is one of the most promising vaccine candidates in the current global tuberculosis vaccine pipeline. The only tuberculosis vaccine currently available, bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), was developed 100 years ago and has limited effectiveness in preventing pulmonary tuberculosis in adults, who, along with adolescents, are the largest spreaders. of the illness.
Esteban Rodríguez, CEO of Biofabri, highlights: “For us, this signed agreement is a milestone in the MTBVAC project. From day one, our goal has been to achieve a vaccine accessible to everyone as well as at affordable prices in those low- and middle-income countries where the incidence of tuberculosis is precisely high. The contract signed with Bharat Biotech ensures that our vaccine reaches countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and South Africa among others where tuberculosis is a public health problem due to the high incidence."
In the words of Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and CEO of Bharat Biotech: "Tuberculosis affects more than 20% of the world's population and is the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease after COVID-19. Tuberculosis is a highly contagious in which vaccines are the best solution to prevent the disease, reduce transmission and combat multi-resistant strains We are proud to announce this partnership with Biofabri, in which MTBVAC can become a global vaccine against tuberculosis Bharat Biotech. “has chosen this vaccine candidate due to its advanced stage of clinical development, as well as the extremely promising results of phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.”
"We are very close to having a new vaccine against tuberculosis. MTBVAC has been shown to be safe and immunogenic in babies and adults and now it is time to accelerate efficacy studies, as has been done for COVID vaccines and start saving lives as soon as possible "A new vaccine that protects against the pulmonary forms responsible for the transmission of the disease will have a great impact on the control of the disease, including resistant forms of tuberculosis," comments Professor Carlos Martín, principal investigator of the Tuberculosis Vaccine project of the Zaragoza's University.
Multidrug-resistant TB and COVID-19
Tuberculosis has been the main cause of death from infectious diseases in the world, with an average annual death toll of 1,4 million people, of which 10% are children.
The appearance of COVID-19 put a brake on years of progress in the response to this disease, which has cost additional lives and increased the global urgency in the face of this epidemic. The Stop TB Alliance estimates that there will be 1,4 million additional TB deaths over the next four years due to the halt in developments resulting from COVID-19.
Drug-resistant/Multi-resistant Tuberculosis (DR/MDR TB) is becoming an increasing problem, because treatment of DR/MDR TB is arduous, expensive and not always successful. A vaccine that prevents tuberculosis disease would be a big step in addressing the problem of DR/MDR tuberculosis.
A vaccine against tuberculosis is more necessary than ever and, thanks to the different agreements promoted by the Zendal Group through the biopharmaceutical company BIOFABRI, it is possible to expedite it.
A Spanish public-private project with global reach
MTBVAC is the only live attenuated vaccine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in development. Currently, it is being developed for two purposes: as a more effective and potentially longer-lasting vaccine than BCG for newborns and, on the other hand, for the prevention of tuberculosis disease in adults and adolescents, for whom there is currently no effective vaccine.
MTBVAC will begin phase 3 of clinical trials in Senegal, South Africa and Madagascar in the second half of 2022.
BHARAT BIOTECH
Bharat Biotech has an extensive history of innovation with more than 145 patents, extensive product portfolio of 16 vaccines and 4 biotherapeutics, registrations in more than 123 countries with prequalifications from the World Health Organization (WHO). Located in Genome Valley, in Hyderabad (India), the nerve center of the global biotechnology industry, Bharat Biotech has a state-of-the-art vaccine plant with an R&D center and level 3 biosafety.
Having supplied more than 5.000 billion vaccine doses worldwide, Bharat Biotech continues to lead innovation and has developed vaccines against H1N1 influenza, rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, chikungunya, Zika, cholera and the first conjugate vaccine against tetanus and typhoid fever. Bharat's commitment to global social innovation programs and public-private partnerships has resulted in the introduction of WHO prequalified vaccines that combat polio, rotavirus and typhoid infections respectively. The acquisition of Chiron Behring Vaccines has positioned Bharat Biotech as the world's largest manufacturer of rabies vaccines.
BIOFABRI is a biopharmaceutical company created in 2008 with the objective of researching, developing and manufacturing vaccines for humans. Biofabri has strong technical and scientific capacity in vaccines and immunotherapy. Biofabri is responsible for the clinical and industrial development of MTBVAC.
Biofabri belongs to the Zendal group, a Spanish pharmaceutical business group made up of 6 companies specialized in the development, manufacturing and marketing of vaccines and other biotechnological products for human and animal health.
UNIZE. The University of Zaragoza is the main center of technological innovation in the Ebro Valley. It participates in different exchange programs, collaborating with universities and research centers in Europe, Latin America and the United States. Microbiologists from the university belonging to CIBERES led the research and subsequent discovery of the experimental MTBVAC vaccine.
TBVI. The Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative is a nonprofit foundation that enables the discovery and development of new, safe and effective tuberculosis vaccines that are accessible and affordable to all people. As a Product Development Association (PDA), TBVI integrates, translates and prioritizes R&D efforts to discover and develop tuberculosis vaccines and biomarkers for global use. TBVI provides essential services that support the R&D efforts of its partners: 50 partners from academia, research institutes and private industry in the field of tuberculosis.
IAVI is a US-based nonprofit scientific research organization with locations in Europe, Africa and India that develops vaccines and antibodies for HIV, tuberculosis, emerging infectious diseases (including COVID-19), and other diseases. underserved with the goal of providing global access. He has worked on most of the leading TB vaccine candidates currently in clinical development and has a dedicated TB team in South Africa.
Since 2013, the Nephrology Unit of the St John of God Hospital It was applied to physical exercise among patients undergoing hemodialysis, in a bid aimed at preventing and/or minimizing functional loss. This week, the team has gone one step further with the launch of the new physical exercise computer application “Diactívate Tour. A trip around the world for kidney disease.
The goal is to raise awareness among the general population, encourage patients and their families and, ultimately, raise awareness of the beneficial effects of physical exercise on health. especially in circumstances of severe illness. The 'app' evokes the spirit of Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, with nuances; There is a bet, but it is for health, and a cruising speed is not required to complete the challenge in 80 days, nor in 800; Each one is regulated according to their physical and clinical capabilities, under the supervision of medical staff.
The app is free and downloadable on any mobile phone. Mercedes García Mena, head of the Nephrology Unit at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, recalls that “in 2013 we implemented the Diactívate program in the hemodialysis unit, focused on exercise for patients undergoing hemodialysis; We currently have a population of elderly patients and we understood that keeping them active was key, also in that contingency. The pandemic arrived and the program had to be stopped; Hospital volunteers, who come to exercise with patients, are essential for its implementation.
The head of the Unit believes that the objective of the initiative is multiple. “In addition to regulating and promoting exercise for patients, it serves to make kidney disease visible and the importance of physical activity in chronic patients. Until now we had tried other things, from step counters to initiatives regulated by exercise time, but the 'app' encompasses and improves all of that. Four Computer Engineering students from the University of Zaragoza have taken all our requests and suggestions to technology in an original and effective way; In addition, the volunteers of the 'De Vueltas al Cuaderno' association have contributed their pictorial talent to recreate the different cities of the trip.”
Generational technological barriers
The Nephrology Unit team is aware that not all seniors perform perfectly with mobile applications. “We are just starting with this, but we are aware of this issue. Volunteers will enter the dialysis room to assist with unloading; In addition, in the application there is an area reserved for the patient so that we can follow up and know how they are coping with their challenges, whatever they may be. Despite their seniority, more and more people are using technology, They download their 'apps'... for example, many have their recipes in the Health app. We must also take into account that the potential users of the 'app' include their relatives, hospital staff, ourselves and our families, and hopefully yours. This is for everyone, healthy and sick, it is about preventing and making visible a disease that is less known than others.”
Marta Luzón is the nephrologist who started Diactívate almost a decade ago. “Personally I like sport, and I believe in its benefits. The profile of the dialysis patient has been changing; 30 years ago there were mostly young patients and someone over 70 years old was rare, but that average age has risen a lot. The number of young people with advanced kidney failure is smaller; now almost everyone is over 75 years old here; "Needs change and it is key to react in time."
Luzón qualifies these motivations. “Someone who loses their functional capacity must be treated with the same intensity as someone with hypertension. I saw that there were physical exercise programs for dialysis in Australia, Canada... we tried here and the results came right away; I want to point out that these exercises are not rehabilitation or physiotherapy, professionals in those fields already do that very well. The app, however, has been designed in collaboration with physiotherapists to influence specific benefits.”
The Nephrology Unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Zaragoza has five hemodialysis rooms and 44 positions; There are three shifts a day, with an average of 130 patients in treatment. The exercise in the hemodialysis room, who wants to recover as soon as possible, is very eye-catching. “Aerobic exercises are done with pedals anchored to platforms that fit into the beds in which we dialyze. We also tried strength exercises using one kilo anklets and elastic bands; Now we want to introduce some balls into our routines to promote leg strength. Patients may have a fistula, which makes it difficult to exercise their arms in the sessions, but those who have catheters also try arm work using dumbbells and ribbons.”
Source: University of Zaragoza
