Novartis signs over TB portfolio to TB Alliance

Novartis recently signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development for compounds used in the treatment of tuberculosis, according to a press release.

“TB is one of the scourges of the developing world and new medicines are desperately needed to combat its continued spread,” Mark C. Fishman, MD, president of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, said in a press release. “TB Alliance is well placed to take our discoveries and compounds through development for the benefit of patients with TB.”

Under the terms of the licensing agreement, TB Alliance will take over Novartis’ TB program and assume responsibility for the research, development, approval and distribution of compounds in the Novartis TB portfolio. These include a novel class of drugs, indolcarboxamides, which have demonstrated activity against drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB strains. Among the indolcarboxamides is a preclinical compound, NITD304, which blocks the MmpL3 protein responsible for the bacterium’s survival, according to the drug maker.

Mel Spigelman

Novartis and TB Alliance have collaborated on past projects.

“Our long-standing partnership with Novartis gives us confidence in the scientific underpinnings of the TB portfolio,” Mel Spigelman, MD, president and CEO of TB Alliance, said in the release. “We look forward to advancing the most promising compounds into the clinic to meet the urgent need for new TB treatments.”

WHO estimates that more than 8.6 million people worldwide are infected with TB, with more than 1.3 million deaths each year. Increasing drug resistance and long treatment courses with existing therapies make new drug development critical in the fight against TB. However, only two TB drugs have been approved since 1968.

For more information:

WHO. Global Tuberculosis Report. 2013.