Qurient, a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in South Korea, and TB Alliance, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of better, faster-acting and affordable tuberculosis drugs, have entered into a license agreement to develop and commercialise telacebec (Q203), a first-in-class orally available cytochrome bc1 inhibitor for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and other non-tuberculosis mycobacterium infections.

Under the terms of the license agreement, TB Alliance obtains the exclusive worldwide license (except for South Korea, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries) to develop and commercialise telacebec for the treatment of tuberculosis and some non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) infections.

Kiyean Nam, Ph.D., CEO of Qurient, commented "As telacebec's unique mechanism of action of blocking energy metabolism of the Mycobacterium can address all types of TB, including drug-resistant TB, we expect telacebec to potentially become an essential component of drug combination regimens for the treatment of TB. We believe telacebec will greatly contribute to the global efforts to combating the TB pandemic, which remains a serious public health challenge worldwide. Our partnership with the TB Alliance will accelerate the widespread availability of telacebec and bring it to those in need."