Latest News
-
Successful project completion
PredictTB provides a wealth of clinical, imaging, and microbiological data, enhancing our...
-
Interview with Simon Mendelsohn, Clinical Researcher at SATVI
Simon Mendelsohn had an interest in working in the medical field already at an early age, shifting...
-
PredictTB Final Meeting
On June 9, the EDCTP-part of the PredictTB consortium held its final meeting online. The 5.5-year...
-
PredictTB Learning Board: A new online platform to strengthen capacity building activities
The PredictTB consortium works actively to design and promote training and networking opportunities...
-
How the PredictTB Student Presentation Session fits into the project’s broader Capacity Building work
Science communication is becoming an increasingly important skill to master for people involved in...
-
PredictTB Annual Meeting 2021
The PredictTB consortium held its fourth annual meeting virtually on October 13-14, 2021. The goal...
-
MERM: A device to aid patient treatment adherence
Adherence to prescribed treatment is a critical component for tuberculosis (TB) patients’ prospect...
-
World Tuberculosis Day 2021: The Clock Is Ticking
Today is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, which is recognized on March 24 each year. The date marks the...
-
A look ahead to what 2021 holds for PredictTB
Four years into the project, PredictTB is entering a new phase. In 2021, the project hopes to begin...
The Project
PredictTB was a 66-month project financed by a variety of international funders and implemented by American, African, Asian and European partners, that aimed to shorten the treatment times of tuberculosis (TB) in drug-sensitive patients through individualized therapy.
Coordinated by Prof. Clifton Barry from the US National Institutes of Health and Prof. Gerhard Walzl from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, the consortium performed an ambitious phase 2B clinical trial in South Africa and China seeking to develop a set of criteria to reduce TB treatment times using data from scans, assays and cultures to evaluate inflammation and lung pathology, to test for the sustained presence of bacteria, and to determine which patients were eligible for shorter TB treatment than the current standard of care.
Read morePredictTB Objectives

Trial implementation
Initially aiming to enroll and follow up 620 patients with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB in a clinical trial, in the end, the PredictTB study enrolled 686 patients to validate candidate biomarkers as well as identify and evaluate new, improved criteria that could identify patients who could be cured with shorter treatment.

Sample collection & storage
The consortium has collected and stored biological samples (including serum, whole blood RNA, sputum, saliva, and urine) from patients in Africa and Asia for future biomarker research.

Test development
Project partners in the Netherlands focused on the development of a point-of-care lateral flow device that helps doctors decide which patients are eligible for shortened treatment. A 3/5 marker set and test device as an additional TB stopping criteria is evolving; however, it requires validation in a larger cohort.