NEW YORK (March 18, 2021)—TB Alliance and GSK have agreed to extend their longstanding collaboration to discover new compounds that can improve the treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
“Our goal is to help save lives by curing TB in a fast, affordable and effective manner,” said Dr. Nader Fotouhi, Chief Scientific Officer, TB Alliance. “We are excited about our partnership with GSK and look forward to working with GSK’s extraordinary TB drug discovery team to identify new TB drug candidates that can make an impact on this deadly pandemic.”
“At GSK, we believe that partnerships are fundamental to confronting global health challenges. Working with the TB Alliance is a prime example of this collaborative mindset, facilitating an exchange of information and scientific expertise in the effort to help combat one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases and the rising burden of antimicrobial resistance,” said Dr. Pauline Williams, Head of Global Health R&D, GSK.
Building on a collaboration that began in 2004, this new agreement will seek to identify and advance novel chemical entities, some within completely new drug classes, that have the potential to treat TB as well as non-tuberculosis mycobacterial infections.
TB is among the world’s leading infectious killers, surpassed only by COVID-19. In 2019, 10 million people developed active TB and 1.4 million died of it. A scarcity of new TB drugs developed over the past 50 years has given way to drug-resistant forms of TB, which are challenging to treat and take a significant toll on patients and health systems alike.
The agreement commits both parties to ensuring that any products developed will be affordable and accessible to those who need them.
About TB AllianceTB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund (Korea), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Indonesia Health Fund, Irish Aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom Department for International Development, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, visit www.tballiance.org
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1. TB Alliance, 2005. “TB Alliance and GlaxoSmithKline Launch Broad Discovery Portfolio to Develop New TB Therapies.” Available at: https://www.tballiance.org/news/tb-alliance-and-glaxosmithkline-launch-broad-discovery-portfolio-develop-new-tb-therapies
WHO, 2020. “Global Tuberculosis Report 2020.” Available at: https://www.who.int/teams/global-tuberculosis-programme/tb-reports/global-tuberculosis-report-2020