RespiriTB Consortium to Present Landmark Results at Stakeholder Webinar

As the RespiriTB project nears completion, partners from across industry, academia, and public health are invited to a dedicated webinar showcasing new clinical, structural, and mechanistic findings — and to join a broader conversation about how these advances can shape the future of TB treatment.

The RespiriTB Consortium will host a public stakeholder webinar on 23 June 2026 (15:30–17:00 CET), bringing together leading scientists, clinicians, policymakers, and patient advocates to review the project’s most significant scientific and translational achievements as it approaches the conclusion of its research timeline.

Registration is now open: RespiriTB Stakeholder Webinar 2026: Advancing TB Innovation Through Collaboration

The event — RespiriTB Stakeholder Webinar 2026: Advancing TB Innovation Through Collaboration — is free and open to all stakeholders across the AMR ecosystem and beyond, from academic researchers and pharmaceutical industry representatives to public health agencies, patient organisations, and European Medicines Agency (EMA) representatives.

Three Scientific Highlights Take Centre Stage

The core of the webinar will be three focused presentations spotlighting results with direct translational relevance for TB prevention and treatment.

Bedaquiline Long-Acting Injectable (BDQ LAI). The webinar will present interim results of a first-in-human pharmacokinetic and safety study for a long-acting injectable formulation of bedaquiline — a key step toward single-dose TB preventive treatment. Long-acting injectables have the potential to address one of the most persistent challenges in TB care: the need to adhere to prolonged daily oral regimens.

Cytochrome bc₁:aa₃ Inhibitors. Researchers will present cryo-electron microscopy (CryoEM) structures of multiple cytochrome bc₁:aa₃ inhibitors bound to their target protein. These high-resolution structures offer unique insights into inhibitor mode of action and into the molecular basis of antibiotic-resistance-inducing mutations — findings with broad implications for next-generation drug design.

MenG Inhibitors. A third presentation will explore the newly characterised mode of action of MenG inhibitors and their ability to resensitise Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains that have acquired resistance to bedaquiline. This line of research could inform strategies  not only to extend the clinical lifespan of one of the most important drugs currently available for drug-resistant TB but also protect regimens susceptible from resistance on MmpL5/S5.

From Science to Impact: A Panel Discussion

Following the scientific presentations, a panel discussion will address one of the most pressing questions in translational medicine: how do promising laboratory findings become better outcomes for patients and public health programmes?

Under the title “Translating RespiriTB Results into Impact: How Can We Reach Policymakers and Drive Adoption?”, consortium leadership and global TB partners will explore pathways to accelerate uptake, build links with policymakers, and ensure the work of the past years has lasting real-world relevance.

The session will be followed by an open audience Q&A.

Speakers

The webinar will feature contributions from a high-profile line-up of researchers and industry leaders:

• Anna Upton, Senior Vice President, Infectious Diseases — Evotec
• Natalya Serbina, Senior Director, Biology — TB Alliance
• Meindert Lamers, RespiriTB Project Coordinator — Leiden University Medical Centre
• Lluís Ballell, RespiriTB Project Lead — Johnson & Johnson
• Vivian Cox, Senior Medical Lead, TB — Johnson & Johnson
• Clara Aguilar, Principal Scientist — Johnson & Johnson
• Anders Karlén, AMR Accelerator — Uppsala University

The session will be moderated by Frederik Deroose, COMBINE Portfolio Manager at Connecting Pharma. Additional speakers will be confirmed closer to the event.

Who Should attend?

The webinar is designed to be broadly relevant. Researchers and clinicians working on TB or AMR, representatives from biotech and pharmaceutical companies, public health and NGO professionals, policy and advocacy groups, and patient organisations are all encouraged to register. No prior familiarity with the RespiriTB project is required.

A detailed agenda, the final speaker list and the link to the webinar (hosted on GoToMeeting) will be circulated to registered participants ahead of the event.

Registration

To register, please fill in this form: RespiriTB Stakeholder Webinar 2026: Advancing TB Innovation Through Collaboration

The webinar is free of charge.