TB Alliance at the 2024 Union Conference
Join TB Alliance and partners at the 55th Union World Conference on Lung Health, taking place in Bali from 12 - 16 November 2024. Follow our live coverage on Twitter using @TBAlliance and #UnionConf.
EVENTS CALENDAR
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11Side Event | Indonesia Ministry of Health's High-Level Meeting to End TB
9:00-17:00 WITA
This closed-door High-Level Meeting hosted by the Indonesian Ministry of Health will be a full-day session focused on strategies, innovations, and results in the global effort to end the TB pandemic. Attendees will hear several panels throughout the day featuring leaders and experts in the TB field who will share in-depth analyses, forward-thinking perspectives, and proven methods that have helped shape the path for new TB treatments, diagnostics, and vaccines.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12Partner Event | Working Group on New Drugs Annual Meeting & New Tools Summit
9:15-16:30 WITA
TB Alliance will be presenting updates to its pipeline at the Stop TB Partnership’s Working Group on New Drugs (WGND) Annual Meeting. The 2024 WGND Annual Meeting offers a neutral platform to all those actively working in TB drug research and development to provide stakeholders a full understanding of the progress, challenges, and critical issues facing the global TB drug pipeline. This year, the meeting will be held as part of the second annual New Tools Summit.
For meeting information and registration, please click here.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13Symposium Session | Fast tracking the cure: Lessons from coordinating cross country community-based advocacy to accelerate uptake and implementation of 6-month drug-resistant TB treatments
9:20-10:50 WITA
Scientific breakthroughs have led to simpler, safer, more effective, and faster treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). A new six-month, all-oral regimen has demonstrated cure rates of ~90% and reduces the length, cost, and pill burden of treatment. Unfortunately, many people still don’t have access to this life-saving regimen. The Fast Track the Cure initiative was launched in 2023 to support, coordinate and mobilize civil society and TB affected communities to advocate for fast and widespread adoption and accessibility of new six-month DR-TB cures for all who need them. Project partners coordinated and leveraged grassroots and digitally based strategies at local and global levels. During this symposium, project partners will share outcomes, experiences, and lessons from two years of partnership and advocacy for equitable access to BPaL/M. Session participants will take away best practices, tactics, and strategies for community engagement, cross-country consortium building, storytelling, and treatment access advocacy.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Side Event | Speed up implementation of BPaLM/BPaL through LIFT-TB project16:00-17:30 WITA
Results from the LIFT-TB operational research program were presented at last year's Union Conference, showing about 90% cure rates in all seven countries that participated. At the 2024 Union Conference, this session will celebrate the success of the LIFT-TB initiative and usher the program into a new phase.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Oral Abstract Presentation | The Union-CDC late-breaker session (treatment and clinical trials)
16:10-17:40 WITA
Two presentations will be captured during this late-breaker session. The first, presented by partners at KNCV, will share the association between daily linezolid dose and BPaL regimen safety in a multi-country operational research study. The second, presented by partners from the Philippines, will explore how the WHO recommends the BPaL regimen for the treatment of multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant (MDR/RR-) tuberculosis (TB) with additional resistance to fluoroquinolones, and BPaLM (with moxifloxacin [M] added) for MDR/RR-TB. However, there is limited BPaL(M) efficacy data from Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, where Mycobacterium tuberculosis (m. TB) lineage 1 (L1) is prevalent. L1 is less susceptible to pretomanid than other lineages.
Please see the online program for additional details.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14Community Connect | Innovative models to bring new TB tools from the clinic to communities: The role of Product Development Partnerships
9:00-10:00 WITA
Attention on new TB tools has seen a resurgence in recent years as efforts advance to develop and deliver the urgently needed new tools to end TB. Innovative science is bringing about next-generation drugs and diagnostics and the first wave of new TB vaccines in over a century.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Community Connect | Harmonising research: Collaborative perspectives from community advisory groups and researchers14:15-15:00 WITA
Featuring insights from expert panelists, including seasoned researchers and experienced Community Advisory Group (CAG) members who have successfully navigated these partnerships, this session aims to provide a roadmap for embedding community voices into the heart of TB research. Key discussion points will include strategies for establishing and maintaining robust CAGs, understanding active participation and strategic collaboration, and ensuring meaningful inclusion at every stage of the research process. The panel will highlight successful examples that have led to improved research outcomes, exploring how aligning research goals with community needs can enhance both scientific rigor and community trust.
Please see the online program for additional details.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15Side Event | Fast Track the Cure Lunch & Learn
11:00-13:30 WITA
At the lunch and learn, you’ll be able to grab a bite with the Fast Track the Cure initiative and learn about how the campaign is raising community voices and advancing access to six-month drug-resistant TB treatments for all. Attendees can also participate in a flash mob Jingle Performance led and developed by the talented partners at Yayasan KNCV Indonesia.
For more information and registration, please click here.
E-Poster Presentation | Care and treatment of TB (drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB)
12:15-13:15 WITA
This poster will detail the effectiveness and safety of the BPaL treatment regimen for multi-drug-resistant TB in Myanmar and will share current findings of an operational research study through the LIFT-TB initiative.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Oral Abstract Presentation | Advancements in Pharmacokinetics of anti-TB drugs from bench to bedside
16:10-17:40 WITA
This presentation will expand on how relapsing mouse model (RMM) data have been used to predict ≥90% sputum culture conversion in patients after 8 weeks of SPaL treatment. NC-009 participants must extend their treatment on HR for 7 weeks until definitive culture-negative data are available from the week-8 timepoint and may complete their treatment at week 15 if pre-specified criteria are met. Modeling how the HR extension phase may impact relapse up to 52 weeks post-treatment and treatment-duration predictions for an all-SPaL regimen are being assessed in the RMM.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Symposium Session | New model for technical support: PeerLINC – peer-to-peer knowledge hub to facilitate country-to-country learning to speed implementation of novel treatments
16:10-17:40 WITA
Multiple countries, including seven which are part of the TB Alliance-led LIFT-TB initiative are early adopters of BPaLM/BPaL and are implementing the regimens programmatically. The process from initial adoption to programmatic scale-up in these countries took 3-4 years which is considerably faster than the past. Other countries may also be able to implement BPaLM/BPaL faster if provided access to this collective experience. Participants will learn about PeerLINC, scope of support provided, and hear experiences of PeerLINC graduate countries.
Please see the online program for additional details.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16TBScience Session | Preclinical and clinical pharmacology of TB drugs
8:00-9:05 WITA
This session will feature two presentations from TB Alliance, one on bedaquiline resistance and the next-generation of diarylquinoline (TBAJ-587), and a second presentation on lessons learned about pretomanid.
Please see the online program for additional details.
Oral Abstract Presentation | Clinical trials and operational research for new treatments for TB (for adults and children)
9:30-10:30 WITA
TBAJ-587 is a next-generation diarylquinoline being developed as alternative to bedaquiline. Data from preclinical studies suggest that TBAJ-587 may have a better safety profile and superior efficacy compared with its analog bedaquiline.
Please see the online program for additional details.