3HP latent TB treatment
3HP TB preventive therapy has a shorter treatment duration, with patients taking fewer pills than with previous regimens.
Our volume guarantee for Macleods is helping to ensure the availability for 3HP for people at high risk of developing TB, supporting the work of the IMPAACT4TB partnership.
Our
partners
The challenge
Public health
Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s second leading cause of death from an infectious disease behind COVID-19. Latent TB infection occurs when someone is infected with TB-causing bacteria but is asymptomatic and non-infectious. About a quarter of the world’s population – 1.7 billion people – are estimated to have latent TB and, over a lifetime, 5-10% will develop active TB. The chance of latent TB becoming active is much higher in people living with HIV and household contacts of TB patients, particularly children under five.
The 3HP regimen effectively treats and cures latent TB in most patients. But access to preventive treatment is behind targets for the period 2018-2022. Addressing latent TB is essential to reducing the incidence and mortality of TB globally.
Market situation
The previous standard-of-care for latent TB, called isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT), was developed over 60 years ago and has seen limited uptake and poor patient adherence due to the treatment duration of six months or more. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its global guidance for latent TB management to include 3HP as a treatment option for both adults and children.
Historically, demand for 3HP has been limited by high prices and supply constraints. Prior to Macleods’ entry into the 3HP market, there were no suppliers of fixed-dose combinations and only one supplier of a 3HP co-pack with very limited production capacity.
A patient takes her TB treatment at her home in Dhaka, Bangladesh. © 2018, The Global Fund/Yousuf Tushar/Panos
By the end of 2021:
101,000
additional people living with HIV will complete treatment with 3HP, when compared to the current standard of care
25,500
hospitalisations of people living with HIV experiencing side effects of latent TB treatment will be prevented
213,000
(approximate) cases of latent TB averted in household contacts
The product
3HP is a fixed-dose combination therapy that combines two antibiotics – isoniazid and rifapentine – for the treatment of latent TB. It is a short-course regimen, taken once a week for three months.
Because of its shorter treatment duration and reduced pill burden, 3HP is as effective as IPT, with fewer side effects and better completion rates (90% on 3HP versus 50% on IPT).
An Indian woman paying at the counter of a pharmacy-drugstore along the road in Cherthala, Kerala, India. © iStock/brytta
The partnership
MedAccess provided a volume guarantee to Macleods.
Macleods will continue to produce and supply 3HP, scaling up capacity to meet increasing demand. Our guarantee enabled Macleods to initially lower its price for 3HP to $15 per patient course, before a further reduction in August 2022 to $14.25 per patient course.
The volume guarantee agreement complements a broader set of interventions provided by the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Unitaid, as part of the IMPAACT4TB programme led by The Aurum Institute, to support the commercialisation and roll-out of 3HP.
The new ceiling price is available in 138 low- and middle-income countries.
CHAI staff member Maka Gombe talks to patient volunteer Stanley Siband about new 3HP regimen. © Eugene Ncube, CHAI
By the end of 2021:
6
countries newly registered 3HP
32%
average price reduction
$11.7mn
in procurement savings
The impact
Our guarantee has helped secure Macleods’ commitment to make 3HP available at $14.25 per patient course, setting a low-cost price benchmark for new competitors entering the market.
There are now two 3HP suppliers in the market, improving supply security in the longer term.
As of end of 2021, we estimate the partnership has contributed to:
- an estimated additional 101,000 people living with HIV who will complete treatment, improving health outcomes and tackling onward transmission, and
- 25,500 fewer people who will be hospitalised due to adverse effects from the medication when compared to the current standard-of-care,
- an estimated $11.7 million in procurement savings, through an average price reduction of 32%.
A healthcare worker checks a child's breathing © iStock/Yaw Niel
How we calculate the impact of this agreement
Lives changed
Downstream patient outcomes were estimated based on the pooled risk analysis developed for the 2020 update of the WHO Latent Tuberculosis Infection Guidelines, and represent relative risk for people living with HIV when comparing 3HP to the current standard-of-care, isoniazid preventive therapy.
Money saved
Impact is estimated based on actual price reductions for 3HP over the course of the volume guarantee.
Markets shaped
We work with partners, including donors, procurers and ministries of health, to track changes in health markets where our investments are supporting access to products. We monitor for changes to policy, procurement practices and supplier movement, all of which affect markets and contribute to the long-term sustainability of impact.
Chest x-ray showing mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. © iStock/stockdevil
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SDG 17
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SDG 17
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable DevelopmentSDG 17 targets:
SDG 3
3.3
By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
3.8
Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all
3.b
Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all
SDG 10
10a
Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements
SDG 17
17.6
Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.7
Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
17.10
Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda
17.17
Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
Discover more about this partnership
Key contacts
If you would like more information about this agreement, please reach out to our key contacts.
