University joins global drive to find tuberculosis treatments

A Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland-led research project to develop new tuberculosis treatments has received major international funding from the Japan-based Global Health Innovative Technology Fund.

The project is the first from the University to be selected by the Japanese fund, a public-private partnership that puts money into research for tools to fight infectious diseases such as TB and malaria.

The University’s proposal was supported by UniServices, a University-owned company driving innovation, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Japan.

The two-year project led by Associate Professor Ghader Bashiri from the School of Biological Sciences will focus on identifying new antibiotics for TB using genome mining, a technique utilising big databases of genomic information.

The project, one of five to win a share of US$10m, also involves Professor Ikuro Abe at the University of Tokyo and Dr Matthew McNeil from the University of Otago.

TB is one of the world’s leading causes of death from infectious disease, with more than 10 million people affected and over 1.2 million dying each year. In New Zealand, around 300 cases are diagnosed annually.

The research will search for secondary metabolites, small molecules produced by microbes, that can target key metabolic pathways in the TB-causing bacterium. The team aims to find compounds that could form the basis of more effective and safer treatments.

The project has the potential to not only improve TB treatment but also inform future malaria research.

“It is an honour and privilege to be part of this project,” says Bashiri. “While this project focuses on the development of new TB treatments, it has potential spillover effects on malaria, offering new opportunities for developing effective treatments against some of the world’s deadliest diseases.”