The World Health Organization (WHO) published Target regimen profiles for long-acting injectables for tuberculosis prevention and treatment on 28 October 2026. WHO notes that TB prevention and treatment still depend on daily oral regimens taken over months, and that sustaining adherence over such periods is difficult for many people.
Long-acting injectables have already changed the management of other conditions, most visibly HIV, and WHO says several candidates for TB are now entering or approaching clinical development. The new profiles set out, early in development, what such a regimen would have to achieve to be useful in practice. For each characteristic they define a minimal requirement and an optimal requirement.
The profile for TB preventive treatment aims at a full course given as a single injection at one encounter. The profile for TB disease aims at a regimen of no more than four months, given in three or fewer dosing encounters. Both call for small injection volumes, no cold chain, administration by a trained health worker, and efficacy and safety at least as good as current oral regimens.
The profiles were developed by a WHO-convened group that included trialists, regulators, national TB programme officers and people with lived experience of TB. WHO says work on better oral regimens should continue in parallel, and that implementation should preserve patient choice.