28-04-2025
Medicine used in drug-resistant TB treatment 25% cheaper
The price of pretomanid, a key component used in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), dropped by 25% in April, to less than $1 per day, primarily owing to Indian manufacturers joining in, people familiar with the matter said.
Experts see this as an important development given the pressures on health spending in high-burden countries. Pretomanid is a key component of the BPaL/M, a shorter and more effective regimen that the Union government has also recently introduced in the national TB programme.
TB Alliance, a non-profit that developed pretomanid, in a statement said the price drop of the key drug reflects ongoing efforts by the organisation and its partners 'to broaden access and improve affordability through a multi-manufacturer approach to access.'
TB Alliance further said it has pioneered an innovative access model by partnering with multiple quality-assured manufacturers. 'This strategy helped launch pretomanid at an initial low price and ensured rapid, sustainable, and affordable access across high-TB burden countries. Simultaneously, by enabling healthy competition and fostering multiple high-quality supply sources, TB Alliance's strategy expanded availability while driving down costs,' the statement added.
BPaL/M is a six-month all-oral regimen recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat most forms of drug-resistant TB. It consists of bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L), with or without moxifloxacin (M).
Pretomanid is now available through the Global Drug Facility (GDF) at just $169 per treatment course (of six month), effectively making it less than $1 per day, a key pricing benchmark identified by the global TB advocacy community. The drug was initially sold for $364 per treatment course after its approval in 2019, which was reduced to $224 in October 2024.
The current GDF price reduction, led by Lupin Limited, represents a crucial step in delivering on this vision, said the statement. Procurement through GDF will save an estimated $37 million annually according to The Stop TB Partnership, the organisation responsible for managing GDF, allowing for the treatment of an additional 120,000 people with DR-TB.
Together with recent price reductions for the other regimen components, the cost of a full BPaL/M treatment course has dropped to a new low of $310—less than $2 per day, and a 47% reduction from its December 2022 price.
'Lupin is proud to collaborate with TB Alliance and the Global Drug Facility to make pretomanid, an essential medicine in the fight against multidrug-resistant TB, more accessible and affordable for TB patients across the globe,' said Ramesh Swaminathan, global CFO, executive director, head of API Plus SBU, Lupin, in a statement.
'The recent price reduction reflects our strong and deep-rooted commitment to delivering high-quality and affordable medicines to TB patients worldwide. Through this partnership, we reaffirm our dedication to patient-centric innovation and equitable access, ensuring that countries burdened by TB have the necessary treatment options they need to save lives and strengthen public health systems.'
