Sanofi and TB Alliance announce tuberculosis collaboration

Sanofi will be collaborating with the TB Alliance to accelerate the discovery and development of novel tuberculosis therapies.

Under the terms of the new partnership, the organisations will be working to optimise and develop a number of compounds from Sanofi's library that have shown activity against the disease-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In-depth research of lead compounds will be carried out based on identified chemical derivatives of natural products, as well as through the chemical optimisation of other compounds that have demonstrated promise.

This continues Sanofi's association with the TB Alliance, as well as building upon its expertise in the field of tuberculosis, an area in which it has been developing therapies since the 1960s.

Dr Elias Zerhouni, president for global research and development at Sanofi, said: "By continuing our excellent partnership with the TB Alliance and leveraging our joint resources, we hope to find together new options to fight this dreaded global disease."

Earlier this month, the company was granted US regulatory approval for Aubagio, a new oral therapy for multiple sclerosis.