Drug companies developing novel treatments for MDR-TB

With incentives to find new antibiotics signed into U.S. law last month, "multiple players are vying for the lead in the [multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)] drug development niche," Nature Medicine reports. "The fifth reauthorization of the U.S. Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), signed into law on 9 July, includes a subsection called the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) Act that aims to spur development of antibiotics for drug-resistant bacteria, including MDR-TB," the news service writes, noting, "Drug makers that ask for approval of medicines to treat these pathogens will receive priority review, as well as five additional years of market exclusivity and fast-track status." Currently, MDR-TB treatment "involves a bevy of regular tuberculosis medicines that, in many cases, must be administered for as long as two years or more ... [and] don't always work," Nature Medicine states, adding, "The hope is that new medicines will shorten treatment times and improve cure rates." The article discusses several medicines that are in different phases of research (Willyard, 8/6).