The first new tuberculosis drug in 40 years has been shown to make current treatment 5 times more successful against drug-resistant TB. In combination with a cocktail of other medicines, the experimental drug known as TMC207 helped get rid of tuberculosis bacteria in almost half of 47 participants in a study by its developer, Johnson & Johnson. Participating patients had TB that could not be treated with standard drugs such as rifampin and isoniazid. TMC207 works by cutting off the energy provide in the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. TMC207 is the first of a new class of drugs that could increase treatment options for patients who have drug-resistant tuberculosis, for whom current therapy may be useless or highly toxic. Of the 9 million new TB cases that build up each year, about 490,000 are multiple-drug-resistant TB, according to the World Health Organization.