The soft drink Pepsi is returning to its roots. Coined Pepsi-Cola, Caleb Bradham created the soft drink to lessen indigestion, or dyspepsia [1]. The soda company is partnering with TB Alliance to create more palatable medications that fight tuberculosis. The announcement was made by TB Alliance on October 27 [2].
TB Alliance is a non-profit organization working to lessen the impact tuberculosis has on the global population through drug research and distribution. The statement release includes a subheading announcing a specific new goal of “leveraging shared expertise to help eliminate unpleasant taste of TB medicines to improve palatability and treatment for children with TB.” The Alliance notes from a World Health Organization report that as tuberculosis is the “leading cause of infectious death worldwide,” with one million children diagnosed each year [3].
As the Alliance is pushing for therapeutic innovations they are also recognizing potential pitfalls that take place at home, not just in the lab. TB Alliance President and CEO Mel Spigelman notes in the release that many TB drugs in development have a treatment length of more than a year. The Alliance hopes taste is not a factor that could stop this regimen from running full treatment course for children, and believes Pepsi can aid in this.
Spigelman continues “we are pleased that PepsiCo is stepping up and applying its proven technology in the beverage industry to help solve this problem. This collaboration exemplifies atypical strategies that are needed to scale the investment in research and, ultimately, achieve a TB-free future [1].”
References:
[1] The Pepsi Store. n.d. The Pepsi Store. Accessed October 28, 2016. http://www.pepsistore.com/history.asp.
[2] TB Alliance. 2016. TB Alliance partners with PepsiCo to advance the fight for improved medicines for children. October 27. Accessed October 28, 2016. http://www.tballiance.org/news/tb-alliance-partners-pepsico-advance-fight-improved-medicines-children.
[3] World Health Organization. 2016. "Global tuberculosis report 2016." World Health Organization. WHO Press. Accessed October 28, 2016. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/250441/1/9789241565394-eng.pdf?ua=1.