Prospects of Inhalable Formulations of Conventionally Administered Repurposed Drugs for Adjunctive Treatment of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Supporting Evidence from Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies

Drug resistant tuberculosis is a major public health concern, since the causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis is resistant to the most effective drugs against tuberculosis treatment ie., rifampicin and isoniazid. Globally, it accounts 4.6 percent of the patients with tuberculosis, but in some low socioeconomic areas this proportion exceeds to 25 percent. The treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis is prolonged (9-12 months) and often have less favorable outcome with novel as well as recently repurposed drugs administered by conventional routes.