The Australian government, through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, has announced a new AUD 17 million grant to support work with TB Alliance through its Product Development and Access Partnerships programme.

The funding will contribute toward the completion of the NC-009 Pan-Phase 2 clinical trial and also help establish and sustain the Peer-to-Peer Learning for Innovative Cures (PeerLINC) Knowledge Hub in Manila, which will disseminate best practices to help speed the programmatic implementation of innovative, effective tuberculosis treatments, including the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).

PeerLINC, which will operate in partnership between TB Alliance and the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc., will provide practical training, guidance, technical support, field experience, tools, and materials to national TB programs covering a wide range of topics including clinical management, diagnostics, drug safety monitoring, programmatic management, community engagement, and health economics. PeerLINC will continue to guide countries after completion of initial training, as countries work to implement and integrate the BPaL/M regimens into their national tuberculosis programs.

The NC-009 trial, which launched in November 2023, will evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combination of a new experimental compound, TBAJ-876, with pretomanid and linezolid, components of the BPaL regimen. This new combination has the potential to shorten and improve treatment for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis.