Doctors Without Borders is urging drugmakers that manufacture tuberculosis medications to significantly lower their prices ahead of a major tuberculosis conference, according to STAT.
Johnson & Johnson makes the TB drug Sirturo, which currently costs $1,200 for a 20-month treatment. Doctors Without Borders is protesting outside of J&J offices in several countries in an effort to cut the price in half.
A J&J spokesperson told STAT the company sells the drug in more than 130 countries at a price of $400, which is "on par with or even cheaper than some generic medicines used to treat TB."
Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Mylan make the TB drug Deltyba, which Otsuka sells for $1,700 and Mylan sells for $940 in South Africa.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool estimated that Deltyba could be sold at a profit for $5 to $16 per month if enough countries could purchase large quantities of the drug.
Doctors Without Borders wants to lower costs to improve access to the lifesaving drugs, as more than 1.6 million people died of TB in 2017. Less than 12,000 people worldwide had access to J&J's drug after an August 2018 World Health Organization recommendation that it be considered a core treatment, according to STAT.
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