Novel Treatments for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Drug resistance has emerged as a major obstacle to global control of tuberculosis (TB). Treatment with currently available medications requires prolonged courses of numerous drugs, many of which are associated with significant adverse effects. New drugs are urgently needed to meet the challenge posed by drug-resistant TB, in order to relieve the burden that drug resistance has placed on individual patients and health systems. Fortunately, many new drugs have been developed for the treatment of drug-resistant TB in recent years. The new antimycobacterial agents are derived from various medication classes, work by means of an assortment of mechanisms of action, and are at differing phases of development. This review provides a survey of the most promising new agents, in order to promote familiarity with these emerging drugs and compounds.