Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), or atypical mycobacteria, inhabit the natural environment and can be found, for example, in soil, dust or water. Pathologically, NTM can cause a variety of diseases, including pulmonary infections in immunocompromised patients and/or susceptible populations each year worldwide, and are therefore considered opportunistic pathogens with global health impact. NTM can be divided into slow-growing and fast-growing groups, with the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and Mycobacterium abscessus (MAB) groups being the most important pathogens causing human infections. NTM pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) is a chronic and progressive lung disease that causes respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath and fatigue. Unlike the well-known close relative Mycobacterium tuberculosis, there are currently no effective antibiotics against these two pathogens and mortality rates can be as high as 30%. There is an urgent need to accelerate research and development of innovative drugs to treat the debilitating diseases caused by these pathogens.
The RespiriNTM projects aims to tackle the increasing threat of NTM infection by delivering (1) innovative molecule(s) against NTM, which (2) eventually could be combined with other antibiotics, for instance those approved for treating NTM infections, to combat MAC and/or MAB pulmonary infections. Further, the consortium is also addressing (3) human factors that are needed for NTM to survive in the infected host.