Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs but can spread to other organs. About one-quarter of the world's population carries latent TB that isn't active, and roughly 10 million people develop active TB each year. Standard treatment takes six months and combines four antibiotics, but drug-resistant strains now require longer, more toxic regimens.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing shorter treatment courses for drug-susceptible TB, new drug combinations for multi-drug-resistant strains, and prevention strategies for people with latent infection. Newer antibiotics like bedaquiline, pretomanid, and delamanid are being studied in various combinations. Researchers are also working on better diagnostics to identify resistant strains faster and vaccines to prevent TB altogether.
Shorter treatment courses
Four-month regimens combining rifapentine with other drugs are being tested as alternatives to six-month standard treatment. Shorter courses could improve adherence and reduce the burden of daily pills.
Drug-resistant TB regimens
Newer antibiotics approved in the past decade are being combined in all-oral regimens lasting six to nine months instead of two years. Studies are testing which combinations work best with fewer side effects.
TB vaccines
Multiple vaccine candidates are in trials, aiming to prevent TB infection or stop latent TB from becoming active. The BCG vaccine given at birth provides limited protection, and no new TB vaccine has been approved in a century.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on whether TB is active or latent, drug resistance pattern, HIV status, prior TB treatment, and organ involvement beyond the lungs.
What types of trials are currently open
- Treatment trials — Testing new antibiotic combinations or shorter courses of existing drugs for active TB. Many compare new regimens to the standard six-month treatment.
- Drug-resistant TB trials — Studies of treatment regimens for multi-drug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant TB, often testing all-oral combinations of newer antibiotics.
- Prevention trials — Testing shorter courses of antibiotics to prevent latent TB from becoming active disease, especially in people with HIV or recent exposure.
- Vaccine trials — Studies of vaccines to prevent TB infection or stop progression from latent to active disease in adolescents and adults.
- Diagnostic studies — Testing new tests that can detect TB and identify drug resistance faster than current methods, which can take weeks.
Recently added Tuberculosis trials
Take preventive medication to protect against tuberculosis
The goal of this study is to learn whether taking short-course preventive treatment in high school and college freshmen with strong positive tuberculosis (TB) skin tests can safely and effectively protect them from developing active TB over a 3-to-4-years period. Main question: Does taking short-course preventive treatment reduce the risk of active TB in freshmen who have strong positive TB skin tests? All freshmen across 26 schools in Meishan City, Sichuan Province, China were screened for TB. Among them, the students with strong positive skin tests (indicating latent TB infection) and no active disease entered the study. Students voluntarily chose to either take a 3-month short-course preventive treatment under campus medical supervision or receive routine health observation without medication. Researchers tracked all participants for 3 to 4 years to monitor who developed active TB and evaluate the treatment's safety and effectiveness.
Receive a new vaccine being tested in adults over 60
This Phase 2 clinical study will evaluate the safety of the rBCG-N-RSV vaccine compared to conventional BCG in adults older than 60 years. It will also compare the cellular anti-mycobacterial immune response of both vaccines in adults older than 60 years and characterize the cellular immune response against RSV nucleoprotein (N) generated by the rBCG-N-RSV vaccine in adults older than 60 years as compared to the response induced by the conventional BCG.
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