vaccine for tb, page-2

G'day Ocker,

There are many teams working throughout the world to develop a better vaccine for TB. Currently, the only vaccine in use is the BCG vaccine which is a "dead" version of the TB bacterium. It doesnt work very well and totally confounds the currently used TST (skin test).

The vaccine that the Indian guys seem to be working on is a particular strain of TB that supposedly can be used to awaken the bodies response and then die away in 3 months. It does sound quite promising but will be AT LEAST 5 years away (more likely 10).

Probably, none of this has any impact on CST. The Quantiferon-Gold TB test from CST is very specific and only shows positive if you really have TB. I doubt that it would be confounded at all by this new vaccine. In the longer term, a combination of new diagnostics (such as QFT), new vaccines and new treatments may bring the current TB epidemic under control. (Between 2 and 3 million people die per year from TB). It will, however, be a massive task, requiring not only the necessary medical advances but also political will.

From a pecuniary point of view, CST have plenty of time to make the big bucks before any vaccine, cure or otherwise might diminish their potential TB testing market. Furthermore, as with many vaccines, it is very likely that prior to vaccination a person would need to be tested anyway. If this should happen then CST would make a bonus motza.

Don't forget also, that the Quantiferon platform is also being developed for the diagnosis of other conditions, including CMV, Lymes and even certain types of cancers.