Items tagged with Scientific research

Immune cells play unexpected role in early TB infection (post)

A class of immune cells called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) mediates the body’s initial defense against tuberculosis (TB), according to a report published online today in Nature. Boosting this response may provide a new approach to developing treatments and vaccines against TB, which causes more deaths worldwide than any other single infectious disease. The research was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health.  It was conducted by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in collaboration with scientists at the Africa Health Research Institute in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and other institutions.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis reversed in lab (post)

About 1.5 million people died of tuberculosis (TB) in 2017, making it the most lethal infectious disease worldwide. A growing rise in drug-resistant TB is a major obstacle to successfully treating the illness.

Qurient announces positive Phase 2a data of novel antibiotic for the treatment of TB (post)

SEONGNAM-SI, South Korea, June 03, 2019 -- Qurient Co. Ltd. today announced positive results from the Phase 2a EBA (early bactericidal activity) clinical trial for telacebec (Q203), a first-in-class, orally-available antibiotic for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Telacebec is a selective inhibitor with high specificity for the cytochrome bc1 complex of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This complex is a critical component of the electron transport chain, and inhibition disrupts the bacterium’s ability to generate energy.

Stanford researchers synthesize healing compounds in scorpion venom (post)

Stanford chemists have identified and synthesized two new healing compounds in scorpion venom that are effective at killing staph and tuberculosis bacteria.

Evotec receives $23.8 million grant to join the global fight against TB (post)

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Supports Evotec With A $ 23.8 M Grant To Generate Critical Data For Selecting Best Drug Combinations For Phase II Clinical Trials
• Tuberculosis Is The Leading Cause Of Death Due To An Infectious Disease Worldwide
• Five-Year Partnership Is Focused On Evaluating New Treatment Regimens That Can Substantially Reduce Treatment Time And Overcome Resistance To Current Therapies

HAMBURG, GERMANY, June 10, 2019 /Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced that the company has entered into a five-year partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to discover new treatment regimens that better address tuberculosis ("TB"), a severe global health burden and one of the leading causes of death due to infectious diseases worldwide. The current standard treatment regimen for TB consists of a minimum of 6 months of treatment with 4 drugs administered under direct observation, but treatment is much longer when TB is drug resistant.

Spero Therapeutics announces collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute to develop SPR720 for TB (post)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 20, 2019 -- Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPRO), a multi-asset clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing and commercializing treatments in high unmet need areas involving multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and rare diseases, today announced that it entered into a collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) to develop SPR720 for the treatment of lung infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), an indication that is designated as a critical concern by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Reinvigorating the clinical drug pipeline for TB (post)

A research team led by scientists from the Broad Institute has uncovered a novel group of chemical inhibitors that can kill the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB). Importantly, these chemical compounds take aim at a previously unexplored molecular target, paving a potential path toward an entirely new class of antibiotics, which are profoundly needed to combat the worldwide problem of drug resistance in TB.

NIH funds creation of new lab model for TB/HIV research (post)

San Antonio, Texas (June 26, 2019) – When people suffer from both HIV and TB, it creates “one of the biggest health problems in the world,” according to Texas Biomed Assistant Professor Smita Kulkarni, Ph.D. Now, the National Institutes of Health is funding a two-year study by Texas Biomed scientists developing a lab model that mimics the early stages of the co-infection of these two diseases.

Standard TB tests may not detect infection in certain exposed individuals (post)

CLEVELAND – An international collaboration of infectious disease experts has identified a large group of people who appear to have naturally mounted an immune response to TB, a bacterial infection that is the leading cause of infectious disease death worldwide. Nearly 200 people from 2500 households with active TB were clearly exposed to TB for more than 10 years but the two most reliable tests (TST and IGRA) came back negative on repeated tests.

Lipid bodies help antibiotics to kill TB infections (post)

Researchers are a step closer to better understanding how to treat one of the world’s deadliest diseases tuberculosis (TB), according to a new study published in Science.