A protein essential for the formation of biofilm by TB-causing bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) has been finally identified by a multi-institutional team from Delhi’s Jamia Hamdard, National Institute of Pathology and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. Biofilm formed by TB bacteria acts as a physical barrier to drugs thereby protecting the microorganisms. The researchers also found two FDA-approved drugs used for treating diabetes and suppressing the immune responses were able to disrupt biofilm formation by the bacteria. When the existing drugs were used along with first-line anti-TB drugs, the dosage required to kill the bacteria was drastically reduced by over 50%. To validate the promising results obtained in the lab, the team has already initiated trials on mice.

The Joint Monitoring Mission 2015 has come down heavily on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for their inability to handle the MDR-TB crisis in the country. The report released last month reflects on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations made by it in 2012.

Three major global research centres in India will receive funding coming out of collaboration between the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department for Biotechnology (DBT), India. The Department for Biotechnology will match the funding provided by UK through MRC and Newton Fund.

A novel approach adopted by a team of researchers based in Bangalore has opened a window of opportunities to design new antimicrobials that could potentially be used to kill the tuberculosis-causing bacteria.

A novel drug combination (PaMZ) designed to treat both drug-sensitive and MDR-TB, including those who are HIV positive, is advancing to the crucial Phase III human clinical trial. If all goes well, the three-drug combination therapy will be a game changer for tuberculosis treatment. Among other things, the less toxic regimen cuts down the duration of MDR-TB treatment from 18-24 months to six months, and reduces the number of pills by 97 per cent. MDR-TB treatment is likely to be 90 per cent cheaper.

From total neglect till a few years ago, childhood TB is now taking centrestage. A couple of days back, the WHO released an updated guidance for national TB programmes (NTPs) on the management of tuberculosis in children.

“Before the BPCA [Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act] and the PREA [Paediatric Research Equity Act] became law, more than 80 per cent of the drugs approved [by FDA] for adult use were being used for children, even though the safety and effectiveness had not been established in the latter. Today that number has been reduced to about 50 per cent,” a FDA blog post notes.

If diagnosing tuberculosis in children, particularly those aged under five years, is fraught with problems, health-care workers at different levels who are unaware of the latest advancements in childhood TB diagnosis and treatment make it even worse.

Childhood TB has been neglected for decades, but in the past few years the WHO has begun to realise its real impact in terms of incidence, prevalence and mortality.

Dr. Mel Spigelman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in tuberculosis and TB drug development.