All-Oral Shortened Regimens for Treatment of Drug-Resistant TB

Patients with rifampin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have traditionally been treated with 18- to 24-month regimens that include injectable drugs, but completion rates are low and substantial toxicity occurs. In 2016–2017, researchers launched an international, phase 3, open-label trial (endTB) to examine shorter, all-oral regimens for drug-resistant TB.

Approximately 750 patients aged 15 years or older with rifampin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-susceptible pulmonary TB were randomized to standard therapy (according to WHO guidelines at the time) or to one of five all-oral regimens for 9 months that included various combinations of bedaquiline, clofazimine, delamanid, linezolid, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and pyrazinamide. The primary endpoint w…