In a major setback to fighting tuberculosis (TB), the first clinical trial of a shortened treatment has been forced to shut down the enrollment of new participants. The trial aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a three-month course of drugs, but interim analysis revealed high rates of unfavorable outcomes.
Globally, tuberculosis is the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 and the 13th leading cause of death overall, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
What Happened?
The CLO-FAST trial sought to assess the safety and effectiveness of a three-month treatment regimen with clofazimine and high-dose rifapentine, deviating from the conventional six- to 12-month approach for tuberculosis. Initiated in November 2021, the trial enrolled 104 out of the planned 185 adult participants from Haiti, India, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)….