NEW YORK (May 17, 2023)—TB Alliance today announces that it will receive up to $3.9 million from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to conduct preclinical testing of a compound that has the potential to be used to treat infections caused by a type of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), increasingly found in people with cystic fibrosis.
In 2019, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation provided TB Alliance up to $5.1 million to identify and test potential treatments for NTM infections. In 2020, TB Alliance and partners at Johns Hopkins University identified a novel oxazolidinone inhibitor – a synthetic antibiotic that prevents the growth of bacteria by disrupting the production of bacterial proteins — that could be used to treat these infections. Similar to tuberculosis (TB), NTM infections are difficult to treat, require long treatment durations, and do not have a high rate of success.
“At TB Alliance, we are focused on discovering and developing novel treatments for tuberculosis. Through this work, we found several possible compounds that had the potential to treat NTMs, which are related to the TB bacteria,” said Dr. Nader Fotouhi, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at TB Alliance. “Identifying this new compound will allow our researchers to potentially develop a new, improved treatment for NTM infections that may help people with cystic fibrosis.”
Linezolid, which is also used to treat TB, is one of the antibiotics currently used to treat a type of NTM infection called Mycobacterium abscessus. This new research will study whether the new compound discovered can be safer and more effective compared to linezolid.
About TB Alliance TB 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, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom), 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, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, visit www.tballiance.org.
Media ContactThomas Lynch | TB AllianceEmail: thomas.lynch@tballiance.orgPhone: 917-648-0671