HQ Team
April 23, 2025: A UN agency, the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF), cut the price of pretomanid, a key antibiotic medication to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), made by India’s generic drugmaker Lupin Ltd., by 25% to $169 per treatment.
The treatment cost was $224 in October 2024 when bought through GDF.
“A lower price will also support high-burden TB countries who rely on GDF to set sustainable reference prices they can then use in their price negotiations when procuring large volumes of pretomanid directly from suppliers, saving National TB Programmes an additional $5 million annually,” according to a GDF statement.
Tuberculosis affects the lungs, and pretomanid is generally used with bedaquiline and linezolid. It is taken by mouth.
BPaLM regimen
The price reduction follows other recent price reductions announced by GDF for bedaquiline (B), linezolid (L), and moxifloxacin (M) that, together with pretomanid (Pa), comprise BPaLM, the preferred drug-resistant-TB regimen recommended by the World Health Organization.
The BPaLM regimen, which consists of a four-drug combination, has been proven to be safe, more effective and a quicker treatment option than the previous MDR-TB treatment procedure.
While traditional MDR-TB treatments can last up to 20 months with severe side effects, the BPaLM regimen can cure drug-resistant TB in just six months with a high treatment success rate, according to the Indian government.
India has the world’s largest TB laboratory network with 7,767 rapid molecular testing facilities and 87 culture & drug susceptibility testing laboratories spread across the length & breadth of the country. This widespread laboratory network will support in timely detection of multidrug-resistant TB and the quick initiation of TB treatment.
Save $37 million a year
These price reductions result in a new, lowest price of $310 per six-month BPaLM treatment course, a price reduction of 47% from the December 2022 price of $588, when WHO first recommended BPaLM, according to the GDF statement.
GDF’s cumulative price reductions for the BPaLM regimen medicines will save donors and National TB Programmes approximately $37 million per year, an amount equivalent to the cost of 120,000 BPaLM treatment courses. Worldwide, of the 176,000 people treated annually for DR-TB, approximately 132,000 are eligible for treatment with the BPaLM regimen, it stated.
“This is a remarkable feat that couldn’t have come at a better time as future TB funding hangs in the balance”, said Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership. “We want everyone to be aware of this price of $310 per 6-month BPaLM – we know that there are countries that pay much more for these treatment regimens”, she added.
UNOPS
Dr Brenda Waning, Chief of the Global Drug Facility, said: “The rapid decline in DR-TB regimen prices is unprecedented given the low-volume, fragmented nature of this market.
“This kind of success can only be achieved with efforts by and collaboration across numerous stakeholders, including donors, governments, regulators, implementers, and a committed group of medicine suppliers.”
The GDF is an arm of United Nations Office for Project Services that implements humanitarian and development projects for the UN system, international financial institutions, and other partners. UNOPS provides infrastructure, procurement, and project management services to support peace and security, humanitarian, and development initiatives globally.
