More work ahead in TB drug development, treatment delivery

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of the tuberculosis (TB) drug Sirturo, also known as bedaquiline, "appears to be just the first step in an exciting renaissance for TB drug development," Mark Harrington, executive director of Treatment Action Group (TAG), writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog. "Another new drug, delamanid, is currently in late clinical trials and has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency for review as a treatment for [multidrug-resistant (MDR)] TB," he notes. Harrington concludes, "It's an exciting time for TB treatment, but much more needs to be done and more resources are needed. We need to focus not only on the discovery and development of new drugs, but also on ensuring that news drugs are delivered to those who need them and in combinations that can prevent the emergence of new types of drug resistance" (12/28).