TB drug price slashed in global push to thwart killer disease

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi slashed the price of a key anti-tuberculosis drug on Thursday, boosting the battle against the world’s deadliest disease alongside the US launch of tests for a new treatment.

The initiatives came as the United Nations seeks to galvanize the campaign against TB, which killed 1.5 million people last year and saw 10 million more infected.

Scientists, who hailed Sanofi’s decision to cut the price of its rifapentine drug by two thirds, said the medical shield offered by such treatments would be crucial to the UN aim of eradicating the disease by 2030.

“This lifesaving drug has, until now, been completely unaffordable in developing countries,” said Lelio Marmora, head of Unitaid, a global health initiative that helped broker the landmark deal between the firm and the Global Fund.

“This agreement will help transform political commitment to tangible action,” he added.

Sanofi, the world’s third biggest pharmaceutical maker by turnover, has cut the price of a three-month course of rifapentine from $45 to $15 for 100 poor nations struggling with the disease.

The cheaper price means aid agencies and governments will be able to use the medicine more widely in their treatments.

Rifapentine, combined with the drug isoniazid, helps shield a person who has the TB infection from developing the disease but also from passing it on to others.

The announcement was made at a global lung health conference in Hyderabad, India, involving some 3,500 researchers, TB survivors and activists from more than 80 nations.

India accounts for a quarter of world’s TB cases.