First Tuberculosis Drug in 40 Years! Do we need any additional prove that infectious diseases are not interested market for Big Pharma? Just imagine the difference – literally hundreds of anticancer drugs are developed annually! I have described details here and here with the situation. However the numbers are very impressive:
About 1.4 million people died from TB in 2010, making the airborne bacteria the second-biggest global killer after HIV and AIDS, according to the World Health Organization.
The bug has developed genetic mutations that enable it to evade drugs or linger longer in the respiratory tract. A new strain in four patients in India appeared to resist all known antibiotics, the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases reported in December.
The drug probably won’t become a blockbuster, especially because to preserve its potency it will only be available to people with a form of TB that shows resistance to other medicines, analysts say. It may generate about 10 billion yen ($127 million) a year in sales in Europe, the U.S. and Japan at its peak, said Fumiyoshi Sakai of Credit Suisse AG in Tokyo.
For sure, and unfortunately the drug – delamanid (see the picture) will not become a blockbuster. But what if we will encounter TB epidemic?
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