Ansley KahnGHTC
Ansley Kahn is a senior program assistant at GHTC who supports GHTC's communications and member engagement activities.
Research Roundup: NIH launches large TB prevention trial for people exposed to MDR-TB, Access to Medicine Index released, and diagnostic test could revive battle to eradicate yaws
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PATH/Satvir Malhotra
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The National Institutes of Health has launched a large clinical trial to assess treatments for preventing people at high risk from developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The study is comparing the safety and efficacy of a newer TB drug delamanid—one of the first drugs available specifically to treat MDR-TB and the first to exist in a child-friendly formulation—with isoniazid, a decades-old drug for TB prevention, in preventing development of active MDR-TB among high-risk individuals exposed to household members with MDR-TB. Study participants are considered at high risk if if they have latent TB infection, suppressed immune systems from HIV or other factors, or are younger than five years old. Study investigators hypothesize that delamanid will be a better prophylactic treatment than isoniazid in reducing the likelihood that at-risk household members of individuals living with MDR-TB will develop active TB. Existing treatments for MDR-TB are often toxic, poorly tolerated, expensive, and aren’t always available. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 460,000 people worldwide developed MDR-TB in 2017.
According the Access to Medicine Index issued last month, which ranks the world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to improve access to medications for the world’s poorest, the industry has made remarkable progress in increasing access to lifesaving medicines, through efforts like drug donation and licensing patents to generic producers. However, according to the report, most of the progress made by the industry is limited to a few companies with their efforts too reliant on donor dollars. GSK has ranked first every year since the rankings began, with its score steadily rising each year. Dr. Jayasree K. Iyer, executive director of the Access to Medicine Foundation which releases the index, stated that two billion people still lack access to the products they need, implying progress on access has just begun.
A new, rapid diagnostic test that can detect yaws—a debilitating bacterial disease spread through skin-to-skin contact causing skin lesions and ulcers—may reinvigorate efforts to eradicate the disease which affects thousands of the world’s poorest children. The molecular diagnostic test costs just US$2 and can detect yaws within 30 minutes at point-of-care, eliminating the time-consuming need to transfer disease samples to expensive high-tech labs. Though WHO reported more than 80,000 suspected cases of yaws in 2018, the real number of infections is likely to be much higher. The rapid diagnostic test is one of 30 finalists of the WHO Innovation Challenge and was showcased at the Africa Health Forum earlier this year. The diagnostic has shown “impressive results” in small trials, according to its creator, who is looking to do larger scale testing.