Medicine used in drug-resistant TB treatment 25% cheaper
Experts see this as an important development given the pressures on health spending in high-burden countries
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.
“This progress demonstrates how thoughtful collaboration and planning can translate into real-world impact,” said Mel Spigelman, president and CEO, TB Alliance, in a statement. “By enabling multiple high-quality producers to supply this medicine, we’re fostering a healthy and sustainable market to deliver on our mandate that the life-saving medicines we develop will be adopted, available, and affordable to all those in need. We’re grateful to partners such as Lupin and GDF for their shared commitment to supplying the market with life-saving TB medicines and stand committed to working with all our manufacturing partners to ensure equitable and affordable access”
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.”