The TB Alliance and Sanofi are teaming up on a research
collaboration to speed the discovery and development of
tuberculosis (TB) drugs. The work will focus on optimizing and
developing a number of compounds in Sanofi’s library, including
lead compounds based on chemical derivatives of natural
products, and small molecule hits identified via high-throughput
screening. “By continuing our excellent partnership with the TB
Alliance and leveraging our joint resources, we hope to find
together new options to fight this dreaded global disease,”
comments Elias Zerhouni, M.D., president for global R&D at
Sanofi. “Sanofi’s commitment to delivering treatments for people
living with tuberculosis—including the discovery of rifampicin,
the gold standard drug for tuberculosis treatment, as well as
the manufacture of TB treatments—continues with this
collaboration.” Sanofi already markets a number of
antituberculosis drugs, and its scientists discovered rifampicin
back in the early 1960s. The firm’s Impact TB initiative has