U.S. Government funding through the Stop TB Partnership introducing New Tools Project is supporting efforts to tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis in Bangladesh. In partnership with the National TB Programme, samples from people with rifampicin-resistant TB are sent to the icddr,b laboratory in Dhaka, where Illumina sequencing technology enables rapid detection of resistance to the drugs used in the BPaL and BPaM regimens.
Since 2022, the icddr,b facility has used targeted Next-Generation Sequencing, commonly referred to as tNGS, to deliver fast and accurate drug susceptibility results. Clinicians across Bangladesh now rely on these tNGS Bangladesh results to tailor individualized treatment plans for patients with drug-resistant TB, shortening the time to appropriate therapy and helping to prevent further resistance.
Professor Dr. Md. Abdus Shakur Khan, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Anwer Khan Modern Medical College & Hospital in Dhaka, noted that molecular platforms are transforming care. He explained that Xpert provides results for rifampicin, isoniazid and fluoroquinolones in about two hours, while tNGS identifies resistance to newer and repurposed drugs such as bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid in three to four days. Before these technologies, drug susceptibility testing for these medicines could take weeks to months; establishing the tNGS lab at icddr,b has reduced that time dramatically.
The programme is an example of how targeted sequencing and rapid diagnostics can change clinical practice. With continued support from partners like the U.S. Government and the Stop TB Partnership, tNGS Bangladesh is helping clinicians act faster, improve patient outcomes and protect communities from the spread of drug-resistant TB.
