TAG's 2023 Pipeline Report: TB Diagnostics

Treatment Action Group (TAG) released the latest edition of its 2023 Pipeline Report series on TB Diagnostics, written by TB Project Officer David Branigan. The TB diagnostics pipeline is healthier and more diverse than it’s ever been, with dozens of new tests in the pipeline that show potential to deliver fast, accurate, affordable testing using samples that all people can easily provide.

The 2023 pipeline highlights new community-based screening tools including ultraportable chest X-ray and point-of-care ultrasound imaging technologies, new urine LAM tests with improved sensitivity for all people irrespective of HIV status, an array of portable molecular diagnostics for use with easily accessible oral swab samples, new decentralized rapid molecular tests for TB and drug resistance that will introduce additional competition with GeneXpert, new centralized drug-susceptibility tests including newly recommended targeted next-generation sequencing, tests for treatment monitoring and progression of disease, and tests for TB infection.

Many new tests in the pipeline are from manufacturers that previously developed rapid tests for COVID-19 and are now developing tests for TB. This expansion of the pipeline comes alongside new approaches to testing that prioritize easily accessible samples for wider population coverage, in addition to the focus on diagnostic accuracy. As these new tests move through the pipeline and toward the market, it’s essential that they are affordable and accessible so countries can afford to scale them up to meet diagnostic testing needs.

The 2023 Tuberculosis Diagnostics Pipeline Report is available here. It is part of a series of Pipeline reports covering TB Vaccines, a forthcoming report on TB Treatment, as well as reports on HIV and long-acting technologies for hepatitis C, opioid use and overdose prevention, and malaria.

Source: TAG