Welcome to the Working Group on New TB Drugs Blog
Posted in Faces of TB, TB Patient Perspective, TB R&D Spotlight Interviews, TB Stigma, Voices from the Fight to Stop Tuberculosis, WGND Podcast Series
Community Engagement through Drama
Dr. Gill Black is the co-founder and Director of Health and Welfare at The Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation (SLF). In this inteview, we discuss with Dr. Black one of SLF’s groundbreaking projects that uses drama to engage local communities around issues related to TB and HIV/AIDS.
TB R&D Update: 243rd American Chemistry Society Conference
The 243rd American Chemistry Society National Meeting and Exposition is being held in San Diego, California, from March 26 to March 29. There are several presentations on tuberculosis. Here are the abstracts of a few of the talks. The first item received news coverage and discusses two approved antibiotics that may prove effective in treating TB. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
World TB Day Coverage: New Combo TB Drug Trial Announced
During the “Cure All: A briefing on the status of the most promising new TB drugs research” sponsored by the Critical Path to New TB Drug Regimens (CPTR) on Monday, March 19, Dr. Mel Spigelman, CEO & President, of TB Alliance announced the launch of the NC002 trial, a combination drug trial that establishes a new pathway to TB and multi-drug resistant TB treatment. The meeting also involved high-level officials from U.S. agencies that support TB research including Anthony Fauci (Director, NIAID/NIH), Janet Woodcock (Director, CDER/FDA), and Robert Clay (Deputy Assistant Administrator, Global Health Bureau/USAID).
TB R&D Weekly Update: TDR Tuberculosis Strain Bank
This week we highlight an article looking at the TDR Tuberculosis Strain Bank and its utility. Additional links to TB R&D news are included.
TB R&D Weekly Update: Totally Drug-Resistant TB
Over the past couple of weeks there have been much discussion and reporting on totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB) based on reports of new cases in India. Here are links to coverage of TDR-TB in India, excerpt from a response by Dr. Nardell who we interviewed last year, and link to the WHO Fact Sheet on TDR-TB. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
WHO Alarmed by Rising Rates of Drug-Resistant TB in Europe
Yesterday, BBC News published an article on the WHO Plan entitled “Consolidated action plan to prevent and combat multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in the WHO European Region 2011–2015.” The plan outlines the problem as well as a solution that could save 120,000 lives if successful.
Posted in Regulations and Guidelines, TB Prevention and Control Strategies, TB Treatment
Updated WHO guidelines on Drug-Resistant TB
The WHO issued updated guidelines on the programmatic management of drug-resistant TB on August 4, 2011 online in the European Respiratory Journal.
TB R&D Weekly Update: Some Multidrug-resistant Bacteria More Fit
This week we have an article by researchers from Portugal that suggests that in the case of resistance conferred by plasmids that in some cases resistant bacteria increases its ability to replicate and overall fitness compared to susceptible bacteria. This may complicate research and control efforts to address the rising problem of multi-drug resistance. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
Posted in Early Drug Development, Front Lines of TB R&D, TB Drug Development, Uncategorized
TB R&D Weekly Update: Novel Compounds Screened for DS and MDR-TB
This week’s featured article from Bill Jacob’s lab looks at novel InhA (target of isoniazid (INH), a first-line TB drug) inhibitors and their ability to kill M. tuberculosis (M.tb) that is drug-sensitive, resistant and in dormant stage. Two compounds were identified that had significant bactericidal activity against M.tb: CD 39 and CD117. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
Report: An Evaluation of DR-TB Treatment Scale-up
MSF, PIH, and TAG release a report on MDR-TB scale up that shows poor progress that is leading to spread of MDR-TB and the continued loss of lives.
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Toppix TB News- Calif. Man Is Criminally Charged to Force Compliance with Tuberculosis Treatment Plan 18 May 2012
- Indian Hospital patients share stories to help heal 17 May 2012
- West Springfield women honored for working with immigrants to prevent tuberculosis 15 May 2012
- MSF says additional resources needed to improve ART access in Burma 11 May 2012
- World disease fund gets added $1.6 bln shot in arm 9 May 2012
