New Promise from a Familiar Class

Clofazamine is a drug from the riminophenazine class that was developed in the 1950s for use against leprosy, but which has also shown activity against M.tb. However, riminophenazines have also been known to produce a particularly problematic side effect — skin discoloration — which could further the stigma already associated with TB. Since 2007, the TB Alliance has been working with the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Beijing Thoracic Tumor and Tuberculosis Research Institute to discover improved next-generation riminophenazines