MSF calls on Johnson & Johnson to improve access to bedaquiline
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges Johnson & Johnson to ensure widespread access to bedaquiline for the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB.
In an open letter sent to Johnson & Johnson on 15 December 2016, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urged the company to improve the affordability and availability of bedaquiline worldwide.
In the letter, MSF asks the company to accelerate registration of bedaquiline worldwide, avoid expanding the duration of their donation program beyond 2019, introduce an affordable flat price in all low- and middle-income countries, and initiate licensing negotiations with the UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool.
“As a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the U.N. Secretary General High Level Panel on Access to Medicines, you had the privilege to hear the testimony of governments and patients facing the everyday challenge of high prices and a lack of access. You now have the opportunity to take steps to make a real difference in the lives of patients around the world, including people afflicted by TB that MSF treats. We urge Johnson & Johnson to re-think how it manages access to bedaquiline.”
To read the full letter, click here.
In September 2016 similar open letters were sent to Janssen and Otsuka urging the companies to improve the affordability and availability of bedaquiline and delamanid. To read the letters and the companies’ responses, click here.
