A new antibiotic, sorfequiline, could raise cure rates and cut treatment time for tuberculosis by months, early trial results suggest.
About 10.7 million people developed TB last year and 1.23 million died from it, the World Health Organization said in its recent annual tuberculosis report, underlining that TB remains a major global public-health problem and the leading infectious cause of death. Progress toward the UN goal of ending TB this decade is being hampered by funding cuts and is already off track.
Researchers from the TB Alliance presented phase-2 trial results at the Union Conference on Lung Health in Copenhagen showing sorfequiline had stronger activity against the TB bacterium than existing drugs, with a similar safety profile. The trial enrolled 309 people at 22 sites in South Africa, the Philippines, Georgia, Tanzania and Uganda, testing different dosing regimens.
All participants had drug-sensitive TB — strains usually curable with the standard multi-drug regimen — but investigators believe sorfequiline could also help treat drug-resistant infections. Dr Maria Beaumont, vice-president of the TB Alliance, said the data raise the possibility of a universal regimen that could be started immediately when someone tests positive, without waiting days or weeks for laboratory results to determine the TB type. Rapid diagnostics remain uneven in many settings, causing delays in starting appropriate therapy.
Dr William Brumskine, clinical research site leader at the Aurum Institute in Rustenburg, South Africa, said a shorter, better-tolerated universal regimen could reduce clinic visits and free health-care providers to spend more time on individual patient care. Anecdotes from trial sites reported unusually rapid recoveries in some participants, increasing enthusiasm ahead of full data release.
A decade ago, treatment for drug-resistant TB could last 18 months or more, often requiring injections and hospitalization, and cured only about half of patients. The current WHO-recommended regimen introduced in 2019 cures roughly 90% of people within six months. Researchers hope sorfequiline could further improve outcomes and shorten therapy.
TB Alliance plans a phase-3 trial in 2026. Dr Kavindhran Velen, chief scientific officer at the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, welcomed the potential benefits of a faster, more effective regimen — including higher treatment completion rates and shorter periods of contagiousness — but urged caution. He warned that a universal approach might reduce incentives for health systems to invest in laboratory capacity and diagnostics, and cautioned against overexposing patients to stronger drugs when gentler options would suffice.
