The treatment, tested in mice, appeared to be safe in a preliminary study in healthy humans, the drugmaker said.

"Scientists at Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development have identified a novel anti-tuberculosis compound that works better and faster than the current standard of care in mouse models of TB infection," the company said in a statement.

The findings were published in the December 9 issue of Science Express, the online version of the journal Science, and will be published in the January 14 print edition.

The Johnson scientists worked with colleagues at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control in Solna, Sweden, and Pitie-Salpetriere School of Medicine in Paris.

The new drug, dubbed R207910, cleared TB infections from the lungs of mice better than a three-drug regime recommended by the World Health Organization, Johnson said.

"The drug acts through a novel mechanism of action, and is therefore active against all multi-drug resistant strains of TB tested so far," said Koen Andries, of Johnson.

Johnson said in a statement that no new anti-TB drugs have been developed in 40 years, while one out of three persons in the world is a carrier of TB. The company pointed out that TB has worsened the AIDS crisis, because HIV-infected people are likely to get the disease.

"That is the main reason why there is now such a resurgence of tuberculosis in countries that were previously hit by HIV," Andries said.

"The HIV epidemic has worsened the TB epidemic substantially."

Johnson said the new drug, when combined with others, could possibly reduce treatment times by as much as 50 percent.

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