TB

The goal of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) as a public health threat in the United States is under threat, a new policy brief released today by Treatment Action Group (TAG) shows. Analysis conducted by TAG reveals that spending on TB research and development (R&D) among U.S. government agencies declined from 2009 to 2012 in the face of budget instability, sequestration, and the rising costs of biomedical research.

The Community Research Advisors Group (CRAG) and Treatment Action Group (TAG) welcome the Sanofi U.S. decision to lower the price of the tuberculosis (TB) drug rifapentine to $32 per 32-tablet blister pack. The company indicates that the new price will become effective in January 2014 under 340(b) Public Health Service pricing.

Treatment Action Group (TAG) congratulates the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for its recommendation to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to grant marketing approval to delamanid, a new drug for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) now in phase III clinical trials. MDR-TB treatment options that do not include new drugs are long, toxic, difficult to tolerate, and often ineffective.