Tuberculosis (TB) has re-emerged as one of the world’s most significant health threats with an annual death toll of over 1.5 million and an estimated one third of the world's population being latently infected.  

In addition to this, there are almost 500,000 cases per year of the disease that are resistant to one or more of the current front-line drugs. Despite this, no new drugs have reached the market for over 30 years, leading the World Health Organisation to declare TB a “global emergency”.

Historically, TB has been viewed solely as a problem of the third world and, as such, the development of innovative new therapies has been stifled.  However globalisation and increased levels of immigration has resulted in TB becoming a significant and growing issue in the traditional pharmaceutical markets.

Summit’s Tuberculosis Programme 

Summit has identified a novel series of small, drug-like molecules that show excellent levels of efficacy against both replicating and non-replicating bacteria, and they are now being progressed through in vivo models. The compounds act via a novel mode of action and are effective against both single and multi-drug resistant strains. They can also be used in conjunction with anti-retroviral drugs, a key issue considering the high rates of TB co-infection in HIV patients.

Summit is working in collaboration with some of the world’s leading experts in the field of TB and is aiming to select a compound for preclinical development in late 2008.  Summit is actively seeking a partner to help accelerate delivery of a novel TB drug to the clinic.