Leiden researchers from four institutes from Leiden University have joined forces in the Leiden
interdisciplinary Tuberculosis Consortium (LiTBC) to develop more effective and efficient therapies
against tuberculosis (TB). Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the world’s top infectious killer,
resulting in 1.23 deaths in 2024 (World Health Organization, global TB report, 2025, link).

Improved treatment of this ancient killer is urgently required and therefore researchers from

IBL (Institute of Biology Leiden), LACDR (Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research),

LIC (Leiden Institute of Chemistry), and LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center) are
working together in the Leiden interdisciplinary Tuberculosis Consortium (LiTBC).

Researchers connected to the LiTBC are not only working on a more detailed understanding of
molecular processes related to the progression of tuberculosis, but also aim to establish novel
therapeutic and diagnostic approaches. Those are either based on novel more effective antibiotics,
nanomedicines or therapies that boost self-defense mechanism of infected cells, for example host
directed therapeutics and vaccination.