Milestone reached in LIFT-TB Philippines

Published on: Sat, 24 Dec 2022

LIFT-TB Philippines is proud to announce that it has reached its target of 100 patients enrolled in the BPaL Operational Research (OR)! The first patient was enrolled in May 2021 after the OR was launched in Dec 2020. The BPaL OR is implemented in 12 OR sites in 10 regions in the Philippines and is spearheaded by the Research Team on behalf of the Department of Health. Dr. Irene Flores leads the team as Principal Investigator, Maria Rhoda Cervas as Research Coordinator, Princess Jeam Carpin and Charlotte Cabalitan as Research Specialists. It is being supported by partners such as the National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL), the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBL) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).

This milestone is timely as the World Health Organization has just released the 2022 update of the Consolidated Guidelines and Operational Handbook on Drug-resistant Tuberculosis Treatment (Module 4) https://www.who.int/news/item/15-12-2022-who-announces-landmark-changes-in-treatment-of-drug-resistant-tuberculosis. The Philippines is in the planning stage of transitioning to the programmatic implementation of new regimens increasing the access of this novel regimen to more patients with extensive resistance, intolerance and non-response to other MDR-TB regimens.

BPaL is a three-drug all-oral regimen composed of Bedaquiline, Pretomanid and Linezolid given for 6 months. The OR is globally supported by TB Alliance under the LIFT-TB Project in seven countries in close collaboration with the International Tuberculosis Research Center (Korea), KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (Netherlands) and the Tropical Disease Foundation (Philippines).

LIFT-TB Philippines wishes one and all a joyous Christmas and a healthy vibrant New Year!

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New World Health Organization Guidelines Have the Potential to Transform the TB Treatment Landscape

In December 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new guidelines for the treatment of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). These important guidelines now recognize that almost all patients with DR-TB can be treated effectively in six months with an all-oral regimen.

Learn More:https://www.tballiance.org/pretomanid-who-guidelines

Price Reduction Paves the Way for Expanded Treatment Access

Viatris, a global healthcare company, MedAccess, and TB Alliance have announced a volume guarantee agreement to reduce the price of pretomanid, a drug used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, by 34% to $240 for a six-month treatment course.

Recent DR-TB Treatments Can Save National Governments up to US$740 Million Annually

A new study published in PLOS Global Public Health found that the BPaL/BPaLM treatment regimen that is now included in WHO DR-TB treatment guidelines could save governments enough to fund almost another year’s worth of DR-TB treatments for more than 400,000 people. The new study estimates that the cost of implementing this therapy is potentially 40-90% less expensive than current regimens.

ZeNix Clinical Trial Results Published in the New England Journal of Medicine

TB Alliance’s ZeNix trial, a Phase 3 clinical trial that took place in 11 sites across Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and South Africa, showed that the BPaL regimen remains effective against highly drug-resistant strains of TB with reduced dosage and/or duration of the linezolid component of the regimen.

TB Alliance Honored to Accept the GHTC Partnership Award

At the 2022 Innovating for Impact Awards, the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) awarded TB Alliance the Partnership Award for its work in developing pretomanid, a drug used as part of a set regimen to treat highly drug-resistant TB.

Learn More: https://www.tballiance.org.za/news/tb-alliance-receives-ghtc-partnership-award-for-development-of-tb-treatment

Note: All photos in this letter are of TB survivors who were treated with BPaL around the world, including Ukraine, the Philippines, and South Africa.

TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of better, faster-acting and affordable tuberculosis drugs that are available to those who need them.