30 August 2023, Geneva, Switzerland – The Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF) announced price reductions up to 55% for bedaquiline, a critical drug used to treat drug-resistant TB.
The new, reduced bedaquiline prices – secured through an open, competitive tender and valid through December 2024 – are as follows:
- Johnson & Johnson: US$130 per 6-month treatment course
- Lupin: US$194 per 6-month treatment course
These new bedaquiline prices are available to the vast majority of low- and middle-income countries and reflect a 55% and 33% price decrease for Johnson & Johnson and Lupin, respectively, compared to the previous price of US$289 for a 6-month treatment course of bedaquiline.
Around 450,000 people are estimated to have drug-resistant TB. The GDF estimates its lower bedaquiline prices will generate US$8 million in savings over the 16-month contract period, an amount sufficient to procure more than 51,000 additional bedaquiline treatments and potentially support thousands more people to access critical treatment for drug-resistant TB.
Read the full announcement here.
In August, Médecins Sans Frontières, Partners In Health and Treatment Action Group sent an open letter to Johnson & Johnson requesting detailed responses to questions and concerns regarding the deal with GDF, announced on 13 July 2023, to supply generic bedaquiline to low- and middle-income countries that excludes South Africa, 10 Eastern European and Central Asian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine), and China.
For more TB news, check out the latest edition of the TB Online Weekly Newsletter (#26, 3 September 2023) with the latest TB advocacy and research updates.
Source : Stop TB Partnership
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