Current treatments for tuberculosis (TB) use a one-size-fits-all approach and usually last for at least six months. Shortening the standard treatment of TB could help reduce drug resistance and disease burden in developing countries.
Previous attempts to shorten treatment duration, usually to four months, have been unsuccessful when compared with six-month treatments. While six-month courses cure 95% of patients, shorter courses only cure 80-85%. If scientists were able to identify the patients who only require four-month therapy before starting treatment, treatment duration could be reduced in most patients, even with present drugs.
PredictTB enrolled close to 700 patients with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB in a clinical trial aimed at validating candidate biomarkers as well as identifying and evaluating new, improved criteria that can identify patients who can be cured with shorter treatment.
The PredictTB funding period ran from February 2017 to July 2022.
Using Biomarkers to Predict TB Treatment Duration
EDCTP, BMGF, NIH, Grand Challenges China, ICIDR, RePORT South Africa
1 February 2017 – 31 July 2022 (66 months)
7.722.491 EUR
Prof Gerhard Walzl, Stellenbosch University, South Africa (EDCTP) and Dr Clifton Barry, III, PhD, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US (BMGF & NIH)
17 partners from Africa, Europe, North America, and China.