USD 31 Million Saved by Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility Through Newly-Reduced Prices for TB Medicines

GDF’s reduced prices are immediately available to all programs, regardless of their procurement funding source, including: national TB programs, governments, non-governmental organizations, and others.

14 June 2018, Geneva, Switzerland - The Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF) is pleased to announce today agreements signed with 28 medicines manufacturers for 83 products that will substantially reduce the prices of medicines used in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). As an outcome of GDF ’s recent competitive tender, savings of approximately USD 31 million are expected in the April 2018 to March 2019 period.

The USD 31 million in savings represent 14% of USD 217 million in TB medicines delivered by GDF in 2017. If the USD 31 million in savings were used to purchase additional medicines, the savings would be sufficient to provide 960,000 people with drug-sensitive TB medicines, 53,000 people with shorter regimens for drug-resistant TB, or up to 37,000 people with conventional regimens for drug-resistant TB.

"The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a proud and long-time supporter of GDF’s work, welcomes this potentially life-changing announcement for the 10.4 million people with active TB. We are pleased that our contributions to GDF, our investments in improving quality of manufacturing, and technical assistance to countries, has helped to boost market confidence and reduce drug prices," said Irene Koek, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Health at USAID.

"Today’s announcement by GDF is a critical step in achieving the broadest possible access to quality-assured TB medicines and will facilitate treating tens of thousands of more people at more affordable prices. GDF has clearly shown their leadership role in procurement and market-shaping of TB medicines," said Dr. Joanne Carter, Vice-Chair of the Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board and Executive Director of RESULTS in the USA.

Reduced medicine prices translate into lower TB treatment costs. GDF’s new prices for conventional, multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB treatment regimens are now as low as USD 812, leading to savings of up to 33% compared to 2017 prices of USD 1,214. Similar price reductions were realized for shorter MDR-TB treatment regimens which are now as low as USD 571, resulting in 27% savings from the 2017 price of USD 779.

"As countries assume increasing responsibility for financing TB care, we are seeing more and more countries procuring TB medicines and diagnostics via GDF with domestic funds. In 2017 alone, 103 countries procured TB products via GDF with donor funds, while 34 countries procured TB products via GDF with domestic funds. These new, lower prices will be especially helpful to national programs who are using their monies to procure TB products." said Dr. Brenda Waning, Chief of Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility.

To purchase these medicines or to get more information about GDF’s portfolio of TB products, please contact us via email at gdf@stoptb.org

"The expertise of the team and the determination to serve the people in need are recognizable marks of GDF. With this significant price reduction, we are moving in the right direction to closing the significant treatment gaps as we move toward finding and treating 40 million people with TB by 2022, as we hope the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB will endorse," said Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Stop TB Partnership’s Executive Director.

An estimated 10.4 million people fell ill with TB in 2016 worldwide, including 490,000 MDR- TB cases. GDF’s newest price reductions will significantly add to efforts to scale up access and reach treatment targets set forth in the WHO End TB Strategy and the Global Plan to End TB.

GDF strives to ensure timely access to affordable, quality-assured TB medicines and diagnostics. GDF achieves this through market coordination; technical assistance on procurement and supply chain management; support on new product launch and introduction; and innovative procurement tools, including a strategic and competitive bidding process, a newly redesigned strategic rotating stockpile, and an online order management system. GDF is the world’s largest procurer of TB medicines and diagnostics for the public sector. In 2017, GDF managed USD 327 million in TB medicines and diagnostics orders for 119 countries.