Eisai enlists Broad Institute in search for new TB drug

Eisai (TYO: 4523) is hoping that compounds identified at Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard will help it to design molecules that demonstrate improved activity as tuberculosis (TB) treatments.

The Japanese pharma company has entered into a joint research agreement with the Broad Institute, Mycobacteria Research Laboratories at Colorado State University, and the University of Chicago to research anti-TB activity through a new mechanism of action involving the inhibition of tryptophan synthase, an essential enzyme present in mycobacterium sp.

Existing TB drugs, introduced decades ago, require long courses of treatments, resulting in poor compliance with treatment, and resistance has also emerged as a problem in various parts of the world.