The Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development (TB Alliance) has announced that it has developed two drugs in clinical trials which could reduce the treatment time for TB.
This is a historic milestone in the accelerated drive to develop new TB drugs to fight the disease in different, faster and better ways and therefore save millions of lives across the globe.
During her address at the 38th Union World Conference on Tubercolosis and Lung Health, TB Alliance Chief Executive Officer Dr Maria C Freire
said: "Two new promising drugs in our portfolio are moving forward in clinical trials offering patients worldwide the hope of shorter and better TB treatment.
"This marks a pivotal milestones in the development of faster, simpler regimens to treat the disease," she said at the conference was held in Cape Town on Thursday.
One person dies of TB every 20 seconds, the World Health Organisation has reported. In South Africa, documented figures of those infected with the disease are said to be "the tip of the iceberg."
TB Alliance is a non-profit, product development partnership aimed at accelerating the discovery and development of new drugs to fight TB.
The benefits of a shorter TB treatment regimen include improved patient compliance with regards to completing treatment.
The current TB drug regiment works for active, drug susceptible TB, but only as long as patients complete the six- to nine-month treatment.
However, many patients do not complete their treatment for various reasons.
A shorter TB regimen would also help to limit the emergence of new, resistant strains of the disease.
A large scale Phase III clinical trial in TB patients is beginning with the antibiotic moxifloxacin, already approved for other respiratory indications.
The study, being launched initially at six clinical trial sites in Africa, is designed to test whether a four-drug combination regimen including moxifloxacin can reduce treatment time for TB.
The treatment period for drug-susceptible TB is at present about six months, however, earlier studies suggest that combination therapy including moxifloxacin has the potential to shorten this time to four months or less.
PA-824 is another TB drug candidate to reach clinical trials and is in its first test in TB patients in Cape Town.
The drug shows promise for the treatment of drug-susceptible and drug resistant TB. It may also contribute to shortening treatment when in an effective combination regimen.
PA-824 is undergoing a Phase IIa Early Bacterial Activity study in TB patients enrolled at two sites in Cape Town, an evaluation of its short-term potency given as a single drug.
"The development of faster, simpler drug regimens is essential in eliminating the needlessly high burden of TB in Africa and around the world," said Professor Anthony Mbewu, President of the South Africa Medical Research Council and a member of the TB Alliance Board of Directors.
"With the launch of pivotal drug trials in sub-Saharan Africa, where TB takes a particularly devastating toll, the involvement of African researchers and patients is helping to pave the way to a revolution in TB treatment," he said.