Strategies for designing novel tuberculosis vaccines

Abstract

More than one third of the global population are Mycobacterium tuberculosis carriers. Nevertheless, no adequate vaccine against tuberculosis has been developed. The article reviews the limitations of BCG, the only tuberculosis vaccine in current use, the main difficulties in the development of tuberculosis vaccines, and novel strategies in the development of next-generation vaccines. All types of new vaccines in the pipeline are considered. Special attention is paid to DNA- and protein subunit vaccines. The most efficient delivery methods for tuberculosis vaccines are discussed. Long-run prospects in designing novel tuberculosis vaccines are outlined.