New drug combination shortens and improves TB treatment
A new drug cocktail may represent a huge step forward in treating tuberculosis. In a first study, which involved 200 patients in Tanzania and Bangladesh, the drug combination achieved very good results, reported Mel Spigelman, president of the "TB Alliance", at the International Aids Conference in Melbourne (Australia).
Tuberculosis is one of the main secondary diseases among HIV-infected patients. Approximately two billion people are carriers of the pathogen, but only a fraction of them actually develops the disease. However, TB is the cause of death in 20 percent of Aids patients.
The new treatment method is called PaMZ and includes the drugs PA-824, moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide. The drug combination is able to reduce the duration of treatment from two years to four months. In the study, the costs decreased by 90 percent and the cure rate increased from 50 to 90 percent, explained Spigelman. HIV patients tolerated the medications very well.
During the course of this year, it is planned to test the treatment in a large-scale study involving 1,500 participants in 15 countries. If it proved effective, this would constitute the first new TB treatment option for the past 50 years, said Spigelman.
Univadis
