TBA-354: A new drug for the treatment of persistent tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB), resulting from infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), is a resurgent and major worldwide health problem. TB was the principal cause of early death in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and was still a greatly feared disease in the 19th and early part of the 20th century (the “white plague”), when there was no active treatment available. Yet by the middle of the 20th century it had essentially disappeared as a health issue in the developed world. This was primarily due to the introduction of an effective combination of the drugs isoniazid, ethambutol (bacterial cell wall synthesis inhibitors), pyrazinamide (energy metabolism inhibitor) and rifampin (bacterial RNA synthesis inhibitor); collectively known as “Rifafour” (Fig. 1).