Drug discovery targeting drug-resistant nontuberculous mycobacteria

Abstract Pulmonary disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is increasing globally, creating a serious public health problem. Patients with NTM lung disease currently require lengthy multidrug treatment regimens that are frequently associated with drug intolerance, toxicity, and often poor clinical outcome. Thus there is an urgent need to develop more effective drugs to counter NTM drug resistance as well as new approaches to reduce NTM-associated morbidity and mortality. It is also paramount to bridge research gaps in understanding NTM pathogenesis and host risk factors, develop evidence-based regimens to improve clinical outcome, minimize drug toxicity, mitigate drug resistance, and prevent reinfections. This section covers the current advances of NTM drug discovery with the ultimate goal of improving the clinical outcome of patients with NTM lung disease.