Trials of a new drug combination to treat tuberculosis (TB) could cut the length of time patients have to take their medicine by a third, UK researchers say.
In a four-year trial, researchers at St. George's, University of London, combined antibiotic drug rifapentine and broad-spectrum antibiotic moxifloxacin already used in the treatment of TB, and hoped that RIFAQUIN, as the new combination is called, will cut the treatment time from six to four months, according to a press release by the University of London Wednesday whose researchers have done the trial.
The researchers hope that speeding up the treatment will help to reduce the 20 million cases of the disease that exist globally - many caused by patients abandoning their medication halfway through because of the long trek to a treatment center or at the first signs it is working.
The researchers will give a high dose of the new combination once a week to patients with pulmonary TB in Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, starting in July 2007.
According to Amina Jindani at St George's, University of London, who coordinated the trial, the development of a new anti-tuberculosis drug could take 15 years and the cost estimated by the Stop TB partnership is almost 5 billion U.S. dollars, but by testing a new combination of drugs already in use, the development time could be cut by 10 years at a far lower cost.