The World Health Organization (WHO) has published Target Regimen Profiles (TRPs) for long-acting injectable (LAI) medicines for tuberculosis (TB) prevention and treatment. The profiles outline the requirements new injectable regimens should meet to simplify treatment, reduce the burden of prolonged medication schedules and improve adherence without compromising efficacy, safety or patient choice.

Currently, TB prevention and treatment largely rely on daily oral medicines taken over several months, making adherence challenging for many patients. WHO said long-acting injectables could reduce this burden for patients and healthcare systems, with several LAI candidates now entering or approaching clinical development.

The profiles set minimum and optimal requirements for developers, covering treatment duration, dosing frequency, administration, safety, efficacy, scalability, equitable access and affordability. For TB preventive treatment, WHO proposes a complete course delivered through a single injection during one healthcare encounter. For active TB disease, the target is a treatment regimen lasting no more than four months, requiring three or fewer dosing encounters.

Both profiles recommend administration by trained healthcare workers at the lowest feasible level of the health system. They also call for small injection volumes, no cold-chain requirement, and efficacy and safety at least comparable to existing oral regimens.

Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO's Department for HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections, said the profiles would help developers identify the requirements for injectable regimens that could simplify TB prevention and treatment while maintaining safety, efficacy and patient choice.

WHO developed the profiles through a Scientific TRP Development Group comprising clinical trial specialists, pharmacologists, regulators, national TB programme representatives, people affected by TB and civil society organisations. The process included a landscape analysis, public consultation in April and May 2026, community and healthcare provider surveys, focus group discussions and a multicountry discrete choice experiment.

WHO also emphasised that research into improved oral regimens should continue alongside injectable development to ensure treatment options remain available for people who prefer not to receive injections.