Accelerated Development of New Treatment for Multi Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: TB Alliance and Tibotec Announce Unique Partnership to Deve...( SEATTLE June 17 /- When: Wed...),Health

SEATTLE, June 17 /PRNewswire/ --

    When:    Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 10:30am Eastern (9:30am Central; 8:30am
             Mountain; 7:30am Pacific)

    Dial-in: 1-877-879-6184 (toll-free)
             1-719-325-4759 (local access)
             Conference Title: TB Alliance/Tibotec Briefing
             Participant passcode: 2895940

    Where:   Pacific Health Summit
             Bell Harbor International Conference Center
             Pacific Board Room
             Seattle, Washington

Today at the Pacific Health Summit, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) and Tibotec announced a unique partnership to accelerate multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) drug development. The two organizations will work together to develop TMC207, which is currently being studied in Phase II clinical trials in patients with MDR-TB. TMC207 could become the first tuberculosis treatment in 40 years to feature a new mechanism of action against the disease. Novel drugs are urgently needed to fight deadly MDR-TB, which caused an estimated 130,000 deaths worldwide in 2007.

    Speakers:
        Mel Spigelman, M.D., president and CEO, Global Alliance for TB Drug
         Development
        Paul Stoffels, M.D., Global Head Pharmaceutical Research and
         Development, Johnson & Johnson
        Jaime N. Bayona, M.D., M.P.H., director, Socios En Salud (Partners
         In Health) Lima, Peru

Background:

Interim data from an ongoing Phase II study of TMC207 were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the placebo-controlled study of 47 patients with MDR-TB, it was found that 48 percent of patients receiving TMC207 in combination with standard treatment converted to negative sputum culture after eight weeks compared with 9 percent of those who received placebo and standard treatment. The safety and efficacy of TMC207 will be
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