
This week, efficacy data from the recently completed Phase 2 randomized placebo-controlled trial in MDR patients evaluating delamanid with background treatment compared to placebo with background treatment was published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Delamanid (OPC-67683) is a new agent derived from the nitro-dihydro-imidazooxazole class of compounds that inhibits mycolic acid synthesis. The abstract and overview of news coverage are presented, as well as, additional links to TB R&D news.
This week, we are highlighting two articles published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in March. The first article by Coxon, et al., looks at the benefits and limitations of the two main approaches to compound discovery for TB, target-based and phenotypic-based. The second article by Phillips, et al., would like TB clinical trialists to consider new strategies or designs for evaluating TB drug regimens which could alleviate a bottleneck as new drugs and consequently new potential drug combinations move into clinical testing. Additional links to TB R&D publications and news are included.