TB LAM – Paving the way for next-generation point-of-care testing

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common cause of death for people living with HIV (PLHIV). The diseases bring out the worst in each other, with each disease speeding up the progression of the other. In most cases, TB in PLHIV is diagnosed very late, or not at all. The most common TB test, sputum smear microscopy, does not work well in people with advanced HIV. Therefore there is an urgent need for non-sputum-based TB tests.

Urine is among the preferred sample types for TB point-of-care testing because it is easily accessible for almost everyone. TB LAM tests work using urine samples and can, therefore, be used as a true point-of-care (POC) test in low-resource settings.

This meeting will provide the latest information on TB LAM tests that are currently available on the market and the latest tests in the pipeline, share lessons from clinical trials and discuss the scalability and accessibility of these tests. The meeting will also explore the potential of TB LAM to be expanded to groups beyond PLHIV in the future.

Thursday, 6 February 2020, 15:00–17:00, Campus Biotech, Geneva
TOPIC	PRESENTERS
Welcome and introduction	Catharina Boehme, FIND
Welcome remarks	Lucica Ditiu, Stop TB Partnership
Opening remarks	Chiaki Noguchi, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
Why POC tools matter	Carol Nawina Nyirenda, CITAM+
The promise of TB LAM tests	Morten Ruhwald, FIND (Presentation)
Policy update	Alexei Korobitsyn, WHO (Presentation)
Panel discussion: TB LAM tests: from development to policy uptake and implementation – where do we stand?	Moderator: Lara Vojnov, WHO Panelists: Samuel Schumacher, FIND Kathleen England, Fujifilm (Slide) Duncan Blair, Abbott Melissa Sander, Bamenda Center for Health Promotion and Research
Panel discussion: Bringing POC LAM-based diagnostics to scale – can this bridge deadly TB testing gaps?	Moderator: Isaac Chikwanha, GHIT Panelists: Bibiana Angarita Zambrano, Stop TB Partnership Charles Sandy, AIDS/TB Programmes, Zimbabwe Eliud Wandwalo, Global Fund Karen Heichman, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Nishant Kumar, Central TB Division, MoHFW, India
Summary & Close	Sergio Carmona, FIND