ORCHID project aims to slash development time of tuberculosis drugs

A collaborative project led by a scientist from UK pharma major GSK (LSE: GSK) has identified new compounds for the fight against TB.

The ORCHID (Open Collaborative Model for Tuberculosis Lead Optimisation), led by David Barros of GSK, has begun a four-year project to develop new drugs to fight drug-resistant TB and bring them to the marketplace in an efficient way. The ORCHID project is co-funded by the European Union.

Dr Barros said: “When ORCHID started, the last anti-tubercular drug (Rifampin) to be approved was back in the sixties. Efforts to discover new drugs for TB have been very fragmented and academic institutions have been conducting independent research with little or no links to the pharmaceutical industry.”