By the first drug against tuberculosis in 50 years

The antibiotics used to combat tuberculosis are becoming less effective. These are old drugs and the bacillus responsible for the disease long ago learned to cope. This explains the rise of resistant tuberculosis cases in all countries of the world that brings head to the health authorities. Therefore, the cooperation agreement reached to speed up the phase III trials with a new therapy is an important step.

The Alliance for Tuberculosis (TB Alliance), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the U.S. Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) have committed to do as quickly as can the phase III study REMox TB for which are currently enrolling patients.

The study will attempt to confirm the safety and efficacy of treatment for four months with moxifloxacin , an antibiotic of the family-fluoroquinolas two drugs in place of standard therapy (often used by four and the most common are isonizida, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) in patients who have failed current therapy, which lasts for more than six months.

"Moxifloxacin, which is already approved for certain respiratory and skin infections, acts differently to the drugs that are now part of standard therapy for tuberculosis. We are evaluating whether this medication can reduce the duration of a treatment 33% , as seen in previous trials, "explained ELMUNDO.es from TB Alliance.

Ready in three years

If the experiment is being developed in four parts of Africa, is successful, moxifloxacin "may be approved for treating tuberculosis in 2014 and became the first new drug for the disease in nearly 50 years," he added from the organization .

According to the latest report of the World Health Organization (WHO) 8.8 million people had tuberculosis in 2010 and 1.4 million died from the disease. However, despite these high figures, and although it is the leading cause of death among patients with HIV, the weapons to combat and detect the bacilli are very old.

The groups have reached agreement agree that "there is a very urgent need to accelerate clinical research towards new therapies against tuberculosis. Over the past decade have made efforts in this field, but still have to try harder" . "The purpose of this collaboration is to provide a more effective therapy and shorter for the millions of TB patients and for patients co-infected with HIV," says Dr. Mel Spigelman, TB Alliance president.