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This Week in TB R&D – 17 August 2010
The novel antitubercular agent TMC207 (Tibotec, a Johnson & Johnson company) represents an impressive and important new chemical agent for addressing both drug sensitive and drug resistant TB. This compound – which is continuing to advance through clinical trials conducted by both J&J and the TB Alliance – selectively inhibits M.tb ATP synthase leading to disruption in the energy metabolism of both replicating and non-replicating organisms.
GlaxoSmithKline Finds Compound That Could Help Fight ‘Superbugs’
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) researchers announced Wednesday that they have found a new compound that may help in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria. The findings could ultimately assist scientists in developing new antibiotics to tackle what has been called one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. Last year, a report from the American Academy of Microbiology called antibiotic resistance “an international pandemic,” adding that “resistance essentially is uncontrollable.”
Novartis donates 250 000 TB treatments to the Stop TB Partnership
Dr Klaus M Leisinger, President and Managing Director of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, and Dr Hiro Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding for the donation of 250 000 adult short-course TB treatments to the United Republic Tanzania through the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF).
Patent pool starts to attract interest
An industry-led ‘patent pool’, set up last year to target neglected diseases, has finally yielded some fruit. Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) launched the pool last year, saying the company would make patents for some of its drugs and manufacturing processes freely available and with no-cost licences. Many hoped the move would boost research into neglected diseases.
TB Alliance and AstraZeneca Form Research Collaboration to Fight Tuberculosis
The TB Alliance and AstraZeneca announced today at the 2010 BIO International Convention that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to accelerate the discovery, development and clinical use of drugs against tuberculosis (TB), including drug-resistant strains of the disease. One in five patients with TB are resistant to at least one of today’s standard first-line TB drugs according to the World Health Organization.
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals and Cumencor Pharmaceuticals Partner with Pfizer to Discover and Develop Antibiotics for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in China
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant bacteria, and Cumencor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered a collaboration with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to discover novel therapeutic agents to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Cumencor Pharmaceuticals is a China-based biotechnology company applying MicuRx’s proprietary technology platform to discover and develop novel antibiotics for MDR-TB.
North America’s Sole Manufacturer of MDR-TB Drugs Closing Its Doors
An Indiana drug maker that’s North America’s sole manufacturer of a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis drug is closing its doors after five years. The Purdue Research Foundation says the Chao Center for Industrial Pharmacy and Contract Manufacturing was unable to become self-sustaining in part because of the recession.
