Good observation about immigration and TB resistance. In the FSU, isoniazid resistance approaches 100%!
The FSU might be a place where a new TB drug could be sold, as is Brazil, China, SA, and India. The rest of the countries wouldn't generate much sales.
"22 countries comprise almost 80 percent of the global TB burden. They include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, Viet Nam, and Zimbabwe"
The cost of multidrug resistant cases was found to be as high as $250,000 per case (D. Snider, TB Eradication, CDC, MMWR 39:369-371,1990). The current cost of tuberculosis control in the US is estimated to be approximately $700 million to $1 billion per year (Brown RE et al, Arch Intern Med, 155:1595-1600, 1995).
Good for JNJ to pursue this line of research (although, like a lot of discoveries, it seemed to be somewhat accidently discovered while working other objectives). |
