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Addressing the Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Realistic Assessment of the Challenge. Workshop Summary

Released:
August 26, 2009
Type:
Workshop Summary
Topics:
Diseases, Biomedical and Health Research
Activity:
Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation
Board:
Board on Health Sciences Policy

Note: Workshop Summaries contain the opinion of the presenters, but do NOT reflect the conclusions of the IOM. Learn more about the differences between Workshop Summaries and Consensus Reports.

Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death in the world today, with 4,500 people dying from the disease every day. Although antibiotic treatment for TB was discovered more than half a century ago, an estimated one-third of the world’s population is currently infected with TB, and 9.2 million new cases occur each year. Many cases of TB can be cured by available antibiotics, but some TB is resistant to multiple drugs--a major and growing threat worldwide.

The Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation hosted a workshop on November 5, 2008, to address the mounting concern of drug-resistant TB. The session brought together a wide range of international experts to discuss what is known and not known about this growing threat, and to explore possible solutions.


Other Reports by this Activity

  • Accelerating the Development of Biomarkers for Drug Safety. Workshop Summary Biomarkers can be defined as indicators of any biologic state, and they are central to the future of medicine. As the cost of developing drugs has risen in recent years, reducing the number of new drugs approved for use, biomarker development may be a way to cut costs, enhance safety, and provide a more focused and rational pathway to drug development. On October 24, 2008, the IOM’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation held “Assessing and Accelerating Development of Biomarkers for Drug Safety,” a one-day workshop on the value of biomarkers in helping to determine drug safety during development.
    Released: June 19, 2009
  • Breakthrough Business Models: Drug Development for Rare and Neglected Diseases and Individualized Therapies. Workshop Summary The process for developing new drug and biologic products is extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming—many consider the traditional model to be unsustainable. Although large pharmaceutical companies may be able to invest in the development of blockbuster drugs because they can expect a large return on their investment, these same organizations, when developing drugs to treat rare and neglected diseases, are unable to rely on such returns. On June 23, 2008, the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation held a public workshop, “Breakthrough Business Models: Drug Development for Rare and Neglected Diseases and Individualized Therapies,” which sought to explore new and innovative strategies for developing drugs for rare and neglected diseases.
    Released: February 19, 2009
  • Addressing the Barriers to Pediatric Drug Development. Workshop Summary The majority of drugs prescribed for children—50 to 75 percent—have not been tested in pediatric populations. Addressing the Barriers to Pediatric Drug Development is the summary of a workshop that was organized to identify barriers to the development and testing of drugs for pediatric populations, as well as ways in which the system can be improved to facilitate better treatments for children.
    Released: August 22, 2008

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