2050 Deadline For Tuberculosis

Hyderabad: It has been a challenge for the government of India to come up with a new drug to cure tuberculosis and scientists at IICT are keeping their fingers crossed as the new combination of PA824 moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide under the Open Source Drug Discovery has successfully entered phase-II of clinical trial.

The trials were conducted in South Africa and if approved, it will enter Phase-III — human trials — in India. The scientists are optimistic as the phase-II results have been encouraging.

The need for developing a new molecule was felt since long and the successful completion of phase-II trials means that there is hope of finding a cure for this most problematic disease. Experts have warned that the disease must be brought under control by 2050 or else it will be too late to control it.

Keeping this in mind, the researchers have changed track and are not killing the bacteria cells that tend to re-grow. They are instead working towards stopping the source of oxygen and food on which the bacteria survive.