Eli Lilly Increases Investment in TB Fight

Drugmaker Eli Lilly, in conjunction with World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, has announced plans to invest an additional $50 million in a global partnership to fight multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

This new commitment furthers Lilly's support of an initiative started in 2003, bringing the company's total investment to $120 million. The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership is an international alliance of 14 public and private organizations. The strategy involves increasing the supply and availability of effective drugs for treating MDR-TB, which is prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa.

One aspect of the partnership is the transfer of technologies and expertise needed to manufacture two Eli Lilly antibiotics used to treat MDR-TB, Capastat (capreomycin) and Seromycin (cycloserine). Since 2003, the company has granted licenses for its technology, formula and trademark to several generic drugmakers, including South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare.

Additionally, Eli Lilly said it has supplied more than 1 million vials of Capastat and more than 5 million capsules of Seromycin since 2000 through the World Health Organization's Directly Observed Treatment-Plus program.