India's patent office rejects TB Alliance's claim on BPaL drug regimen

The Indian Patent Office has rejected an application by the US-based TB Alliance for BPaL, a combination of bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid. The six-month, all-oral regimen is recommended by the WHO for certain drug-resistant tuberculosis cases, replacing older treatments that could last 18 to 24 months and sometimes involved painful injections.