20 September 2012 - Paris and New York - The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) and Sanofi, a healthcare company, have agreed to collaborate on research to accelerate the discovery and development of new tuberculosis (TB) drugs.
Sanofi and TB Alliance will work on several novel compounds in Sanofi’s inventory that have shown promise in combatting Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB.
"In working with Sanofi, we seek a common goal - to give patients and physicians significantly more effective treatments for TB and drug-resistant TB," said Dr Mel Spigelman, President and Chief Executive Officer, TB Alliance. "Without new regimens, we cannot stop this global pandemic."
Sanofi, which discovered rifampicin in the early 1960s, markets several anti-TB drugs. With the Impact TB initiative, part of its Access to Medicines program, Sanofi aims to provide quality drugs at an affordable price.
"Sanofi’s long-standing commitment to delivering treatments for people living with tuberculosis - including the discovery of rifampicin, the gold-standard drug for tuberculosis treatment, as well as the manufacture of TB treatments - continues with this collaboration," said Dr Elias Zerhouni, President, Global Research and Development, Sanofi. "By continuing our excellent partnership with the TB Alliance and leveraging our joint resources, we hope to find together new options to fight this dreaded global disease."