The 2nd Global Meeting on Cutaneous Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), held 24-26 March 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, was well represented by the BLMs4BU Consortium.
During the meeting, Dr Christian Johnson, from the University of Abomey-Calavi and the Raoul Follereau Foundation, presented the progress of the ongoing Phase II clinical trial in Benin. With almost 90% of patients enrolled, the trial is progressing well with no significant adverse events associated with the new treatment regimen.
Emma Sáez, from the University of Zaragoza, presented the results of bacterial clearance in Buruli ulcer lesions from patients in the BLMs4BU study. In her talk, she presented molecular methods that allow better clinical monitoring of the evolution of the infection, providing relevant information for the interpretation of the results of the clinical trial. In addition, she presented a nested study in the BLMs4BU that aims to understand the experience of Buruli ulcer patients using a holistic approach.
Beyond the clinical trial, the event counted with the active participation in the meeting of consortium members such as Isra Cruz (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain), Iñigo Lasa and Aitor Jiménez (Fundación Anesvad, Spain), Santiago Ramón-García (Fundación ARAID – Unizar, Spain), Esaï Anagonou and Inès Elvire Agbo (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Benin), Richard Phillips (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana), Aboa Paul Koffi (National ETD Programme of Côte d’Ivoire), Elena Dacal (SpotLab/Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain), as well as the assistance of other members of the National skin NTD programmes of Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, essential part in the implementation of the clinical trial.
All presentations were well received by the international scientific community, reinforcing the importance of the clinical trial and the fundamental role of the institutions that make up the BLMs4BU Consortium in the transformation of Buruli ulcer treatment in the coming years.