Preparing for Tomorrow’s Innovations Today: New Trial Results Demonstrate Potential of “SPaL” Regimen to Shorten and Simplify TB Therapy
Recently released results from the NC-009 trial mark an encouraging advancement in the development of shorter and more effective treatments for tuberculosis. Conducted across 22 sites in South Africa, the Philippines, Georgia, Tanzania, and Uganda, this Phase 2 study evaluated a novel regimen combining sorfequiline (formerly TBAJ-876) with pretomanid and linezolid — known as the SPaL regimen. Early findings indicate that SPaL demonstrates stronger antibacterial activity than the current HRZE standard of care for drug-sensitive TB, while maintaining a comparable safety profile.
These results add to the growing momentum around next-generation TB regimens. Innovations such as BPaL/M have already shown how shorter, all-oral treatments can transform the landscape of drug-resistant TB care. The SPaL regimen may represent the next major step — with the potential not only to further reduce treatment length and burden, but also to expand simplified care into drug-sensitive TB. Such breakthroughs open the door to a future where TB treatment is more efficient, more tolerable, and more scalable across diverse health systems.
Realizing that future, however, depends on more than scientific progress alone. It requires strong systems, implementation infrastructure, and coordinated initiatives that ensure new tools can be introduced rapidly, equitably, and at meaningful scale. The NC-009 results are a reminder that the global health community must be prepared not only to support today’s innovations, but to build the mechanisms capable of delivering tomorrow’s advances as soon as evidence emerges.
That is precisely where PeerLINC’s work is essential. By strengthening networks, aligning stakeholders, and building the operational foundations for product uptake, PeerLINC helps create the conditions needed for swift and effective rollout of new TB technologies. As additional evidence on SPaL progresses — including a planned Phase 3 trial — platforms like PeerLINC can play a critical role in ensuring that promising regimens can move from research findings to real-world impact without unnecessary delay.