**9. A new approach to research processes**

Traditionally, the focus of research is the evaluation of a single drugin extensive and costly trials. This process may take a lot of time and reduces the possibility of developing a combi‐ nation of new drugs that is effective. For this reason, a new approach to research has been led by the Critical Path to TB Drug Regimens (CPTR) organization created in March 2010 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations, the Critical Path Institute, and the TB Alliance. This strategic partnership has the strength of reducing the time necessary to develop a new TB treatment scheme, as well as reducing significantly the research costs. This initiative has been endorsed by the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory entities, as well as the World Health Organization [67].

As a result of the 41st Union World Conference in Berlin, Germany, on November 2010, the TB Alliance announced the launch of the first clinical phase to test a new TB treatment scheme which expedites the treatment of patients. The combination of three drugs has been promising for the treatment of drug sensitive (DS-TB) and MDR-TB, thus changing the course of the TB pandemics through simplification and shortening in the treatment time of the disease world‐ wide. The combination is currently in phase II of clinical trials and contains PA-824 and moxifloxacin together with PZA. Researchers have reported that preclinical data reveal a decrease in the treatment time both for DS-TB and MDR-TB patients, and possibly XDR-TB ones with a simple three-drug treatment scheme [67].
