The WHO Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015 has called for urgent development of new drugs with novel mechanisms of action to treat all forms of TB, including MDR-TB, which is more difficult to cure and has higher mortality rates compared to regular TB.
According to a study published, in the New England Journal of Medicine, about Efficacy Results of Otsuka’s Delamanid for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis, TB remains a critical global health issue with no new drugs in nearly half a century.
The latest class of anti-TB drugs was discovered in 1963, while in the past two decades, MDR-TB has emerged as a significant public health threat, with strains of TB growing increasingly resistant to treatment with first-line anti-TB drugs.
Results from the trial showed a 53% increase in sputum culture conversion (SCC) after two months between study subjects receiving delamanid 100 mg twice-daily (BID) plus a background regimen (BR) consistent with WHO treatment guidelines compared with subjects receiving placebo plus BR alone.
Delamanid was cited to be from a class of compounds, known as nitro-dihydro-imidazooxazoles, which work by inhibiting synthesis of mycolic acid.
The researchers said there was an urgent need for short, simple, well tolerated regimens that are effective in patients who are resistant to current regimens.