Contact: Natalie Shure, natalie.shure@treatmentactiongroup.org

TAG welcomes the joint announcement from USAID and PEPFAR at the CDC’s “Prevent TB to End TB” event on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB that they have secured a 30% price reduction on the tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) regimen called 3HP, taking the price from $14.25 to $9.99 for a three-month patient course. This lower price will be available through the Stop TB Partnership Global Drug Facility.

USAID and PEPFAR have committed to spending a combined $25 million to provide 3HP to 2.5 million people at risk of TB around the world, covering 750,000 more people than would have previously been reached at higher prices. Furthermore, USAID has made moves toward making access more sustainable in low- and middle-income countries by developing a more efficient, cheaper way to produce the base ingredients of rifapentine, one of the two drugs in 3HP. USAID is now facilitating a technology transfer of this new method to a local manufacturer in Africa.

This victory builds upon years of activism around the world led by TB survivors, clinicians, researchers, civil society members, and other advocates who have pushed to make the broader implementation of TB prevention central to the global TB response. While TPT was once used sparingly due to lengthy and toxic regimens, scientific research has more recently delivered gentler rifapentine-based regimens that prevent TB in as little as one or three months. TB-affected communities have worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork for scaling up newer, shorter TPT regimens to people at risk of the disease, like people living with HIV or close contacts of people with TB, which one Lancet Global Health analysis estimated could save 850,000 lives through 2035. Through initiatives like IMPAACT4TB, a Unitaid-funded consortium of partners including TAG, advocates have not only helped win previous rifapentine price cuts, but to generate treatment literacy and demand for TPT within populations that could most benefit. This work built the foundation necessary for TPT to be used widely and effectively to save lives. We’re proud to see USAID and PEPFAR extend these efforts and applaud the significant price decrease they negotiated.

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