Project Aims to Streamline and Shorten Drug Development for Tuberculosis
New York, NY and Waltham, MA., February 21, 2006 – The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) and BG Medicine Inc. announced today a collaboration to identify biomarkers for drug efficacy in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), a step toward faster and more efficient drug development.
"The clock is ticking, we need to find a faster cure for TB, and new biomarkers could expedite our search," said Dr. Maria C. Freire, President and CEO of the TB Alliance. "Clinical trials for TB drugs are especially time-consuming so a new biomarker that helps us test novel medicines faster and more efficiently will be a tremendous asset in developing a better, affordable TB cure."
Today, clinical trials for TB drugs are based on standard treatment regimens requiring 6-9 months of therapy, with efficacy evaluation taking another 1-2 years to measure relapse rates in those patients who have not been successfully cured. In total, clinical trials required to register a TB drug can take a minimum of six years, much longer than trials for other infectious diseases. The result is high drug development costs and long delays in introducing new medicines. The identification of biomarkers could streamline and accelerate the process.