The Médecins Sans Frontières and The Union will release on World TB Day a new report entitled “DR-TB drugs under the microscope” outlining drugs currently available to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) including product information, sources of the drug, quality status, and price. The purpose of the report is to act as an aid to treatment providers, treatment programs, and national procurement centers in making decisions about which drugs to purchase and implement.
The report groups available TB drugs into five categories: 1) first-line oral agents 2) injectable agents 3) fluoroquinolones 4) Oral bacteriostatic second-line agents 5) Agents with unclear efficacy. The focus of the report is to detail the information on the drugs in groups 2 through 5.
In addition, the report presents an overview of the market and looks at challenges that are present when addressing DR-TB such as limited number of quality sources, affordability, and neglect of children and people living with HIV/AIDS. The report aims to provide quality information and to be transparent regarding pricing of these drugs.
The online Global TB Drug Pipeline available on the WGND website is cited in the report (see page 11 and 45).