Profiling Pretomanid as a Therapeutic Option for TB Infection: Evidence to Date

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most deadly infectious disease globally. Although most individuals achieve a cure, a substantial portion develop multi-drug resistant TB which is exceedingly difficult to treat, and the number of effective agents is dwindling. Development of new anti-tubercular medications is imperative to combat existing drug resistance and accelerate global eradication of TB. Pretomanid (PA-824) represents one of the newest drug classes (ie, nitroimidazooxazines) approved in 2019 by the United States Food and Drug Administration as part of a multi-drug regimen (with bedaquiline and linezolid, BPaL) and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat extensively-resistant (XR-TB) and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Approval was granted through the FDA’s Limited Population Pathway for Antibacterial and Antifungal Drugs, which accelerates approval for antimicrobial drugs used to treat life-threatening or serious infections in a limited population with unmet need. This review details the pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of this new agent and describes evidence to date for its role in the treatment of drug resistant TB including published, ongoing, and planned studies.