Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidate MTBVAC Shows Differential Protection Compared With BCG

In a recent study by Aguilo et al, the team at the University of Zaragoza provided the first evidence for this hypothesis through the discovery that two M. tuberculosis antigens of MTBVAC, ESAT-6 and CFP-10, which are both not present in BCG, are key contributors to the superior protection that is induced by MTBVAC in mice. Furthermore, through a collaboration with researchers at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, the study describes that also in humans MTBVAC (but not BCG) triggers a specific immune response against ESAT6 and CFP10. The findings uncover a first mechanism of the improved protection of MTBVAC as compared to BCG, and it is important to further explore this response as a potential biomarker of protection for MTBVAC.