New tuberculosis drug regimen moves to clinical trial..!!

A new drug, part of the STAND trial, will test the first regimen designed to significantly shorten and simplify the treatment of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis may infect any part of the body, but most commonly occurs in the lungs.

Globally, tuberculosis is the second most common cause of death from infectious disease (after those due to HIV/AIDS).

A group called the TB Alliance is to undertake the first-ever drug regimen designed to treat both drug-sensitive and some forms of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) to a global Phase 3 clinical trial. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight tuberculosis.

The TB Alliance operates with funding from Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, European Commission, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Irish Aid, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, UNITAID, United Kingdom Department for International Development, United States Agency for International Development, and the United States Food and Drug Administration.

The three new drugs being trialled are grouped together and called PaMZ (PaMZ is a three-drug regimen comprised of two candidate drugs that are not yet licensed for use against TB: PA-824 (Pa) and moxifloxacin (M), and one existing antibiotic used in TB treatment today, pyrazinamide (Z)).

Initial trials suggest that the new drug regimen could provide the breakthrough we need to accelerate progress against this deadly and dangerous disease. This is because PaMZ could potentially reduce the time required to cure drug-resistant TB from two years to just six months.

PaMZ regimen will be tested in a Phase 3 clinical trial named STAND (Shortening Treatments by Advancing Novel Drugs). If successful, the regimen would eliminate the need for injectable drugs and reduce the cost of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis therapy. The STAND trial will span some 50 study sites across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
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