Ahead of the World Tuberculosis Day, which falls on March 24, 2016, the government of India has rolled out a ‘miracle drug’ named Bedaquiline, to battle multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis MDR-TB, and extensively-drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) on Monday. Health Minister JP Nadda launched the drug at a high-profile meeting of international stakeholders, organized by his ministry and the World Health Organization.

The drug ‘Bedaquiline’ (trade name Sirturo), is perhaps the first in decades to have a potential to dramatically improve MDR-TB treatment outcomes, and reduce the number of people who die from the disease.  The drug is made available in six centers across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati and Ahmedabad and will be introduced in 104 districts across five States.

Bedaquiline — a new class of drug is a diarylquinoline that specifically targets Mycobacterial ATP synthase, an enzyme essential for the supply of energy to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and most other mycobacteria. It has been discovered and patented under the trade name SIrturo by Janssen Pharmaceutica, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, and has been given to the Indian government as a donation under the Conditional Access Programme. Janssen has donated the medicine for 600 patients for a two-year treatment period.

Bedaquiline will be given to multi-drug resistant TB patients with resistance to either all fluoroquinolone and/or all second line injectables and extensive drug resistant TB.

The ministry brought out another initiative to up the ante for accurate and timely diagnosis by inducting 500 Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) machines, which can test MDR bacteria, into the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). This is a fully automated rapid molecular test which detects mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin drug resistance simultaneously.