Candidate anti-tuberculosis medicines and regimens under clinical evaluation

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacology
• Clinical Trials

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading global infectious disease mortality cause.
• Current TB treatments are lengthy and associated with adverse events.
• Emerging drug resistance necessitates novel therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review novel anti-TB medicines and treatment regimens in clinical development.
• To assess future treatment options for drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB.

Main Methods:

• Review of pre-clinical and clinical studies on novel anti-TB drugs.
• Examination of candidate medicines targeting various bacterial pathways.
• Analysis of innovative clinical trial platforms for regimen evaluation.

Main Results:

• Multiple novel drug classes are under investigation, including protein synthesis inhibitors, respiratory chain inhibitors, and cell wall inhibitors.
• Clinical trials are exploring new regimens, not just single agents.
• Promising candidates target diverse mechanisms like cholesterol metabolism.

Conclusions:

• A substantial pipeline of anti-TB drug candidates exists.
• Innovations in clinical trial design are crucial for evaluating new treatment regimens.
• These developments offer significant hope for improving TB treatment efficacy and duration.