GLAXO INVESTS IN TB RESEARCH PROGRAM

Glaxo has initiated and will fund a worldwide collaborative program to combat tuberculosis, a disease which is re-emerging as a major killer in the developed as well as the developing world.

While TB has never really departed from the scene in the developing world, it is making an unexpected comeback in industrialized countries, largely on the back of the AIDS epidemic. An HIV-positive person who contracts Mycobacterium tuberculosis faces a risk of around 8% a year of contracting the disease, while an HIV-negative person acquiring the infection faces only a 10% chance throughout their whole lifetime. In addition, the disease is linked to homelessness and poverty, and finds a particular reservoir in overcrowded conditions, such as those found in prison populations.

One of the main problems is the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of M tuberculosis. About 90% of cases of drug-resistant TB have occurred in HIV-infected people, and the death rate is very high. Between 70% and 90% of such cases prove fatal, with patients dying just four to 16 weeks after diagnosis.