ABSTRACT
Although treatment of active, drug-sensitive, pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is potentially 95% to 98% effective (1), there are cogent arguments for developing new TB drugs. These arguments include the need to: (i) shorten and simplify current treatment regimens for active, drug-sensitive disease; (ii) provide safer, more effective, lower-cost treatment alternatives for multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB; (iii) remove obstacles to effective treatment of TB in HIV-positive individuals; and (iv) shorten treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI). The following sections examine each of these rationales.
