New patient-friendly tuberculosis preventive therapy to be rolled out in five countries

A new fixed-dose combination (FDC) of “3HP”, a short-course tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment (TPT) combining two drugs, rifapentine and isoniazid, is starting to be rolled out in five TB high burden countries in Africa. This will reduce the number of pills that people who need the treatment have to take every week from nine to three. Enough treatments for up to 3 million patients are expected to be made available for eligible countries this year.
As the result of an agreement concluded by Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the manufacturer of the FDC, Macleods, the latter has agreed to offer a ceiling price of US$15 (ex works) for a three-month patient course of weekly rifapentine and isoniazid. Five initial countries from a total of 12 targeted by the end of the year will start providing the FDCs in February and March 2021: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Other countries are expected to receive supplies with the support of PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.