Project description
New hope for neglected skin diseases
Leprosy and Buruli ulcer continue to devastate communities in sub-Saharan Africa, causing lasting physical damage and deepening cycles of poverty and stigma. Existing treatments are long, complex, and often come with severe side effects, particularly hard on children and people in remote rural areas. With this in mind, the EU-funded TEBULA project will focus on ‘telacebec’, a promising new compound that targets the bacteria behind both diseases. By testing shorter, simpler treatment regimens with fewer side effects, the project aims to offer a more humane and accessible cure. Overall, the project seeks not only medical breakthroughs but real-world impact for those who need it most.
Objective
Leprosy (Hansen disease) and Buruli ulcer are among the devastating skin neglected tropical diseases (Skin NTDs) prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa that cause progressive and permanent disabilities, exposing the patients and their families to discrimination, social stigma, and economic burden, adding complex challenges to communities already exposed to extreme inequality. Considering the needs of the most affected populations, children and people living in rural remote areas, current treatments are suboptimal in their complexity and length. Treating leprosy requires multiple drugs administered for 6 to 12 months. Buruli ulcer treatment requires 3 pills daily at different hours for two months, and lesion healing can take up to 12 months. Both treatments are associated with significant side effects (skin discoloration from clofazimine, exacerbating the stigma that leprosy patients face, and potentially fatal hypersensitivity to dapsone).
This proposal aims to transform the treatment of Buruli ulcer and leprosy using the novel compound telacebec. Telacebec has demonstrated profound activity against Mycobacterium ulcerans and Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agents of Buruli ulcer and leprosy, respectively, whose evolutionary biology has rendered them hypersusceptible to killing by telacebec. We propose to conduct two clinical trials with telacebec-based treatment regimens that will cure Buruli ulcer and leprosy with fewer drugs, shorter duration, and fewer side effects than current therapy. We will perform this work through an integrated, multidisciplinary consortium of experts with broad experience in drug development, therapeutic delivery, community engagement, stakeholder participation, policy implementation, and capacity building to achieve equitable access to a new standard of care for these diseases.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences health sciences tropical medicine
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.1 - Health
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2024-01-two-stage
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75015 Paris
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.