[October 24, 2018, NEW YORK] - TB Alliance has joined the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) as an Associated Partner on programs focused on antimicrobial resistance and innovation in clinical trials. IMI is a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry that facilitates the development of medicines, especially in areas of unmet medical need including tuberculosis (TB).
“TB Alliance is excited to collaborate with the Innovative Medicines Initiative,” said Dr. Mel Spigelman, president and CEO, TB Alliance. “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is among the starkest health threats facing Europe and the world, and drug-resistant tuberculosis is the most pervasive such infection. New and improved therapies will be critical to ending the TB epidemic and curbing AMR.”
IMI launched the Antimicrobial Resistance Accelerator Program to advance the pipeline of potential medicines, including new antibiotics, to treat and prevent drug-resistant bacterial infections in Europe and abroad. The program will establish a Tuberculosis Drug Development Network (TBDDN) to address the innovation gap in the discovery and development of a novel drug regimen for all forms of TB. This network is supported with a budget of €210.3 million.
TB Alliance is also collaborating on IMI’s Integrated Research Platform, which will convene a broad consortium of stakeholders to develop a reusable, modular approach for the design and execution of patient-centered platform trials.
According to the World Health Organization’s latest Global TB Report, more than half a million new cases of drug-resistant TB developed in 2017. Current treatment options for multidrug-resistant TB—which take from nine months to two years or more to complete—are only 55 percent effective. For people with extensively drug-resistant TB, the rate of treatment success drops to less than 1 in 3.
About TB Alliance
TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight tuberculosis (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, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Irish Aid, Indonesia Health Fund, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom Department for International Development, United Kingdom Department of Health, United States Agency for International Development, and the United States Food and Drug Administration. For more information, please visit: www.tballiance.org
About IMI
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a partnership between the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). IMI facilitates open collaboration in research to advance the development of, and accelerate patient access to, personalized medicines for the health and wellbeing of all, especially in areas of unmet medical need. www.imi.europa.eu