Sanofi and TB Alliance to accelerate TB drug development
Research collaboration will focus on optimising and developing compounds in the Sanofi library
French drugmaker Sanofi and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) have agreed a research collaboration to speed up the discovery and development of novel compounds against tuberculosis (TB).
Under the agreement, Sanofi and TB Alliance will focus on optimising and developing a number of compounds in Sanofi’s library that have demonstrated activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. This will include leading compounds based on chemical derivatives of natural products, and other compounds that have been identified as hits through high-throughput screening.
Elias Zerhouni, president of global r&d at Sanofi said: ‘By continuing our excellent partnership with the TB Alliance and leveraging our joint resources, we hope to find together new options to fight this dreaded global disease.’
‘Sanofi’s commitment to delivering treatments for people living with tuberculosis – including the discovery of rifampicin, the gold-standard drug for tuberculosis treatment, as well as the manufacture of TB treatments – continues with this collaboration.’
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2010, TB affected nearly 9 million people globally.
The cost of diagnosing and treating these cases between 2009 and 2015 was estimated at US$16.9bn, with annual costs increasing from $700m in 2009 to $4.4bn in 2015.1
1. Donald, P. R. and van Helden, P. D. The global burden of tuberculosis: Combating drug resistance in difficult times. New England Journal of Medicine, 2009; 360(23): 2393.
