Gates MRI and Calibr announce licensing agreement for tuberculosis treatment

The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (GATES MRI) and Calibr, a division of Scripps Research, have announced a licensing agreement to advance an investigational compound to treat tuberculosis (TB).

The discovery and preclinical studies of Calibr’s CLB073 were done through a partnership for TB drug discovery and development funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Now, under the terms of the agreement, Gates MRI will be granted an exclusive licence to continue the development of CLB073.

Responsible for an estimated 1.5 million deaths per year, TB is a severe disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).

Currently, the most commonly used drug regimen for the treatment of drug-sensitive TB requires patients to take multiple drugs, usually for a minimum of six months, with routine clinical monitoring.

However, patients with drug-resistant forms of the infection can face longer and more complex treatment journeys, often with significant side effects that require increased monitoring.

“Eradicating TB will require enhancing the world’s current therapeutic options, meaning shortening treatment duration and overcoming drug resistance,” said Case McNamara, senior director of infectious disease at Calibr.

CLB073 targets Mtb in a new way, using a novel mechanism to weaken its intramacrophage survival, potentially improving efficacy and shortening the duration of treatment time.

The compound has already been shown in preclinical mouse studies to significantly enhance efficacy of the Nix-TB drug regimen – the TB standard of care for drug-resistant cases.

“TB is one of the world’s most significant infectious causes of human disease and death,” said Emilio Emini, chief executive officer of the Gates MRI. “CLB073, discovered by Calibr scientists and now licensed to the Gates MRI for further development, may represent a potentially important constituent of future TB therapeutic regimens.”

TB is both curable and preventable, but despite global commitments to end the disease by 2030, the World Health Organization said the epidemic shows ‘no sign of slowing down’.

As a result, the organisation unveiled plans to establish a TB vaccine accelerator council last month to speed up the licensing and use of effective novel vaccines against the disease.