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News | 27/05/2025
TB Drug Development

UNITE4TB Annual Meeting 2025: Transforming TB Care Together

Consortium Meeting in London
From 6 to 8 May 2025, the UNITE4TB Consortium convened in London for its Annual Meeting. Held across three venues — the Wellcome Collection, the Royal College of Physicians, and UCL’s MRC Clinical Trials Unit, the program spanned three focused days: Consortium Day, Scientific Day, and a Closed Investigator Meeting. The gathering celebrated recent progress, strengthened collaboration, and set the direction for the next phase of the project.
UNITE4TB
Group photo of the 2025 UNITE4TB Annual Meeting in London

The UNITE4TB Annual Meeting 2025 began on 6 May at the Wellcome Collection — a venue rich in scientific history, founded by Henry Wellcome, one of the early pioneers of GSK, a key partner in the UNITE4TB Consortium.

Project leads Derek Sloan (Radboudumc) and David Barros (GSK) opened the meeting, welcoming all participants. In his opening remarks, Derek reflected on the consortium’s progress and future direction:

"Thank you all for your continued dedication and hard work. We are very pleased with the progress made so far, and it is encouraging to see the first data coming out. Still, much critical work is yet to come."

The morning featured updates from all 12 work packages as well as a plenary discussion on the operational challenges of the PARADIGM4TB clinical trial, one of three currently running trials under the UNITE4TB clinical trial program.

"By deploying our collective talent and drawing on the strength of our diverse scientific, ethical, and community perspectives, we can tackle the challenges ahead."

Derek Sloan, project lead of the UNITE4TB Consortium

Scientific Advisory Board members Dr. Razia Fatima (National TB Control Program, Pakistan) and Dr. Bouke de Jong (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp) commended the consortium’s progress. Drawing on UNTIE4TB’s race car concept, they noted that the project has really gained momentum over the last year and is now at “cruising speed”.

Members of the Community Advisory Group (CAG), Blessina Kumar, Paul Sommerfeld and Stephen Dresser presented recent CAG activities and efforts to amplify the voices of people affected by TB. Blessina added:

"We all want the same thing— to cure TB. But what works in one setting, may not necessarily work everywhere. That is why we have to move together, faster and in a way that ensures the dignity of the people living with TB."

Blessina Kumar (Community Advisory Group Member)

Held at the Royal College of Physicians, the Scientific Day showcased UNITE4TB’s contributions, from academic breakthroughs to shaping future TB care through collaboration with regulators and communities.

Jodie Schildkraut (Radboudumc) welcomed participants and principal investigators from the project’s global clinical trial sites. Marc Lipman (UCL) opened the day with a clear message:

“The global community is looking at you and wants to know what you are achieving.”

During the Academic Discoveries sessions, several achievements and insights emerged. Simphiwe Simelane (TASK) presented a comprehensive analysis of 19 Early Bactericidal Activity trials. Daniel Garger (Helmholtz Zentrum München) followed with a proof-of-concept model that uses data from the TB-PACTS platform to predict TB treatment outcomes and chances of disease relapse. Michael Hoelscher (LMU) presented a first look at data of the DECISION trial. While the results look promising, Michael emphasized the preliminary status and the need for further in-depth analysis.