madam president it is always good to see you in the chair when we are discussing issues about the plights of others
i know you share our concerns
i want to associate myself with the words of mr goerens and indeed take the commission a little further
it is quite right that tb is a significant global health concern and as we know is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases worldwide
as we heard one point six million to two million people die annually from the disease
eu funding has been instrumental in generating a robust pipeline of innovative tb vaccine candidates as the commission said enabling their early stage development by phase one and phase two a clinical trials
unfortunately and this is the problem currently funding mechanisms including the european and developing countries clinical trials partnership allocate very limited funding to the very costly late-stage clinical trials phase two b and phase three which are vital to demonstrate vaccine safety
we have vaccines but it is vital to demonstrate the safety and the efficacy necessary for licensure
i now welcome the fact that the commission has said that it is bringing in additional funding but will the rules for any new edctp budget provisions permit funding to be directed to the development and building of clinical trial sites including epidemiology studies
is the commission considering the introduction of competitive funding mechanisms for the late-stage clinical development of innovative new vaccines that address the neglected diseases such as tb
