Promising new drug fights TB

South African researchers have announced a massive breakthrough in the fight against tuberculosis — a new “wonder drug” that appears to cure multidrug-resistant TB patients much faster than the existing treatment.

Sputum samples from almost half (48%) of TB patients enrolled in a major South African drug trial show no trace of TB infection eight weeks after starting a new drug combination, containing TMC207 — the first drug of a completely new class of antibiotics developed in Europe, which is being tested for drug-resistant TB.

Although still in the clinical trial phase, the drug, dubbed “J”, is almost certain to be the first new drug approved to fight TB in over 40 years. It remains to be seen whether it is a complete cure, what other drugs it must be combined with and whether it is completely safe.

Trial patients who test negative for TB after eight weeks may still revert (test positive for TB again) — if they stop their medication too soon. But if further tests show no signs of TB, or concerns for safety, then the drug will be considered one of the most important medical breakthroughs in years — thanks to a major contribution by the University of Stellenbosch.

TB kills two million people a year, and affects mostly the developing world. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries, with 460000 TB cases and 16000 drug-resistant TB cases, according to the latest World Health Organisation figures.

Results of the latest clinical trial, conducted at four South African hospitals and co-ordinated by the University of Stellenbosch, were published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“This is an enormous event in the world of TB drugs. The last TB drug that has really worked was introduced in 1966,” said lead researcher Professor Andreas Diacon from the department of medical physiology at the University of Stellenbosch. “This drug is so new that there is no resistance against it.”

The trial result is good news for South Africa’s public healthcare system, battling to cope with an avalanche of drug-resistant TB cases. The Western Cape is particularly hard hit, with many patients failing to complete antibiotic medication.

Drug-resistant TB is a bacterial infection that usually requires at least 18 months of treatment, but an increasing number of patients are dying despite treatment.

The trial showed that a drug cocktail containing five known anti-TB drugs, in combination with TMC207, killed the TB bacteria in 48% of patient sputum samples, a massive increase compared with a conversion rate of 9% for patients on the drug cocktail without TMC207.

Trial participants were all multidrug-resistant patients of all races aged between 18 and 65.

“The reports of this particular drug are extremely encouraging,” said Professor Keertan Dheda from the department of medicine at the University of Cape Town. “It holds promise in the future to shorten the duration of TB treatment. It also offers a prospect for treating multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB.”

Source : www.thetimes.co.za