AstraZeneca with Sanofi-Aventis to Develop TB Treatment

AstraZeneca said the current treatment for TB, directly observed short-course chemotherapy, was old, slow and inefficient by today's standards.

AstraZeneca has joined a consortium with French rival Sanofi-aventis, the University of Cambridge and other research organisations to fight tuberculosis around the world.

Every year, 1.8 million people die from TB around the world. The drugs used to treat it are nearly 50 years old and must usually be taken for six to nine months, or up to two years for drug-resistant strains of the disease. This can prove too much for many patients and erratic treatment can lead to drug resistance and death.

The More Medicines for Tuberculosis (MM4TB) consortium intends to develop new drugs for successful and shorter treatment for TB. The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), along w