Seven pharmaceutical companies and four research institutions…have entered into a partnership to speed up the discovery of essential new treatments for tuberculosis (TB). [T]he TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA) [partnership], will target the discovery of new TB drugs by collaborating on early-stage research…Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Sanofi will open up targeted sections of their compound libraries and share data with each other and four research institutions…Breaking from traditional...practices, the companies will work together to develop the best prospects, regardless of where the drug originated. The structures of lead compounds identified through the program will ultimately be placed in the public domain...Tuberculosis…is the second leading infectious cause of death worldwide, having killed nearly 1.4 million people in 2010 alone…