JNJ-2901 is an inhibitor of M. tuberculosis cytochrome bc1:aa3. It effectively reduces bacterial load in acute and chronic mouse infection models of M. tuberculosis H37Rv-ΔcydAB. JNJ-2901 is useful for tuberculosis (TB) research.

JNJ-2901, at concentrations ranging from 0.005 µM to 5 mM over 5 days, inhibits the growth of M. tuberculosis H37Rv-ΔcydAB in 7H9 medium, with an MIC of 2.5 nM. It also suppresses the oxygen consumption of wild-type M. smegmatis (IC 50: 89 nM) and the cytochrome bd knockout strain (ΔcydAB) (IC 50: 60 nM), while showing no significant effect on the cytochrome bc knockout strain (ΔqcrCAB). Additionally, JNJ-2901 inhibits oxygen consumption in M. smegmatis with Mtb-like cytochrome bc (IC 50: 17.4 nM).

JNJ-2901 (10 mg/kg, subcutaneous injection, administered for 12 days over 8 weeks) has been demonstrated to reduce the bacterial load (3.6-log/4.0-log) in both acute and chronic M. tuberculosis H37Rv-ΔcydAB infection models in 6-8 week-old female Balb/cBy mice.