( First comprehensive study of market dyn...)New Study Reveals Limitations of a Complex and Challenging Global,Tuberculosis Drug Marketplace,Health

NEW YORK, May 14, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewsire/ -- The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit, product development partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new TB drugs, today released results from the first comprehensive study of the dynamics of the global TB drug market that offers a detailed analysis of how today's TB medicines reach patients around the world, and an estimate of the value of the global market for first-line TB treatments.

The study, Pathway to Patients: Charting the Dynamics of the Global TB Drug Market, reveals the variability and complexities faced at all levels of the TB drug supply chain; the highly fragmented nature of the global marketplace in terms of purchase, supply and delivery; the important role of local and national governments in procurement and distribution; and the limited commercial market potential for new TB drugs.

"The absence of a viable commercial market has clearly held back TB drug research for decades," said Maria C. Freire, CEO and President of the TB Alliance. "This groundbreaking study reaffirms the mission of the TB Alliance to develop new, faster and better TB drugs, and the importance of working to ensure these lifesaving new cures reach all those who need them."

Pathway to Patients studied the TB drug market in ten strategically selected countries, including high burden, emerging and high income markets (Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) to obtain country specific market data and provide a comprehensive understanding in eight key countries of procurement and distribution systems.

The study projects an estimate of the global market for first-line TB drugs of approxim
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