Partnerships
Partners are critical to advance TB Alliance’s drug development efforts
United Nations High-Level Meeting Underscores Role of Partnerships in Fight Against TB
In 2018, the United Nations (UN) held a High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Tuberculosis—only the fifth time the UN devoted an HLM to a health issue. Heads of state convened and issued a Political Declaration that united them in an urgent global response to end the epidemic. A key pillar is to financially support the development of new TB drug regimens along with diagnostics and vaccines. Specifically, world governments committed to closing the $1.3 billion annual gap in TB research and development funding as documented in Stop TB’s End TB Strategy. Though new financial commitments have been slow to materialize, the political declaration is expected to serve as a tool to hold governments accountable.
Find out more about this landmark event
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New Partners in Action
Throughout 2018, TB Alliance announced collaborations with organizations focused on drug discovery, research and development. These new partnerships are a first step toward improved treatment options and better patient care for all those impacted by TB around the world.
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and the European Union
TB Alliance has joined the IMI’s Antimicrobial Resistance Accelerator Program to advance the pipeline of medicines to treat and prevent drug-resistant bacterial infections. The program will establish a Tuberculosis Drug Development Network to address the innovation gap in the discovery and development of a novel drug regimen for all forms of TB.
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and UK MRC
LSTM and TB Alliance are collaborating to investigate novel combination drug therapies that could help the fight against drug-resistant TB, following new funding from the UK Medical Research Council.
Schrödinger
Schrödinger and TB Alliance agreed to a three-year research collaboration in TB drug discovery. The partnership merges TB Alliance’s expertise in TB biology with Schrödinger’s advanced modeling capabilities to accelerate the development of next-generation treatments.
Communities: Essential Partners
Without patients and the support of their communities, research is not possible. TB Alliance maintains close relationships with communities in which our research takes place. TB Alliance’s Community Engagement program helps more than 40 sites educate and empower local communities to understand and influence research and TB-related issues locally and globally.
In 2018, Community Engagement sites participated in a variety of educational and advocacy activities, including events for World TB Day, World AIDS Day, and—through the Louder than TB initiative—participation in South Africa’s “Walk the Talk” March, as well as advocacy campaigns around the HLM.
Gallery: Community Partners in 2018
United Against TB: Our Global Network of Partners
Global problems like TB require global solutions. TB Alliance partners with researchers, funders, technical partners, communities and stakeholders of all kinds around the world to strengthen our scientific, operational and political capabilities to develop new TB treatments and fight TB rapidly and effectively.
Welcoming New Stakeholders
The TB Alliance Stakeholders Association (SHA) is an advisory committee of global organizations with diverse expertise that provides advice and support to TB Alliance’s mission. In 2018, six new Stakeholder Organizations across five continents were added, representing clinical trial, technical, academic and advocacy partners, as well as a fellow “PDP.”
