Massive $200 Million TB Research Programme Derailed by U.S. Funding Cuts
4 March 2025
Many in TB circles were excited when, in August 2022, it was announced that the US government was backing a massive, five-year global research programme called SMART4TB. Worth up to a total of $200 million, the money would fund a series of clinical trials of new TB treatments and tests – while also helping to build research capacity in developing countries. The money was to come from USAID.
But in January this year, recipients of US aid around the world were left reeling when stop-work orders were issued and funding frozen following Trump’s executive order halting US foreign funding for 90-days pending a review for “programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy”.
In the weeks since, some funding had been temporarily restored through waivers and court orders. However, the reprieve came to an abrupt halt on 27 February, when South African organisations reliant on PEPFAR funding through USAID had their grants permanently terminated. The terminations were not limited to South Africa.
One of the many projects that received termination letters is the SMART4TB programme – one of the biggest TB research grants in history. The project, coordinated by Johns Hopkins Medicine, was set to support several important TB studies, some of which were to be conducted in South Africa.
Read the full story at Spotlight.
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