The Global Market
Successful drug delivery requires an in-depth knowledge of existing treatment supply networks at the global and national level.
New, faster, and simpler drugs — critical to the fight against TB — are likely to be introduced within the next five to ten years. However, as we work to advance the TB drug pipeline, it is vital that we simultaneously achieve an understanding of the market dynamics that will affect the delivery and adoption of a new regimen.
Recognizing that new cures will only be effective if they are available and affordable, the TB Alliance is overseeing a series of studies to analyze the way TB drugs are produced, distributed and delivered in key countries around the world.
In the Spring of 2007, the TB Alliance unveiled
Pathway to Patients: Charting the Dynamics of the Global TB Drug Market, the first comprehensive analysis of how today's TB drugs reach patients on a global scale. The study analyzes the pricing, purchasing, procurement and distribution mechanisms for first- and second-line TB treatments in ten strategically selected countries — Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, the UK, and the US — as well as an appraisal of the global first-line TB drug market.
THE GLOBAL FIRST-LINE TB DRUG MARKET RANGES FROM APPROXIMATELY US$310M-316M
The study points to the variability of the market dynamics among the countries studied, the array of complexities faced at all levels of the supply chain, and the highly fragmented nature of the global market. Research shows that providing the proper pathway for a new generation of faster and easier-to-use TB drugs to reach the patient will require a targeted and informed country-level and global strategy.
Findings from this and future studies will inform initial planning for the adoption and implementation of new TB drug regimens. Once a new regimen is ready for introduction, this research will allow stakeholders to speed the distribution of faster, more effective medicines — getting a better cure to those who need it.
Results from Pathway to Patients:
> Click here to download the Study Overview (.pdf - 880kb)
> Click here to download the Compendium of Findings
(.pdf - 1,000kb)
Comprehensive Results by Country:
> Brazil Case Study (.pdf - 516kb)
> China Case Study (.pdf - 828kb)
> France Case Study (.pdf - 576kb)
> India Case Study (.pdf - 1,300kb)
> Philippines Case Study (.pdf - 872kb)
> Russia Case Study (.pdf - 600kb)
> South Africa Case Study (.pdf - 1,500kb)
> UK Case Study (.pdf - 632kb)
> USA Case Study (.pdf - 844kb)
Global Procurement Overview:
> Global Procurement Overview (.pdf - 584kb)
Product Profile Analysis
Defining the value proposition of new regimens
In extensive interviews, the TB Alliance has sought opinions regarding the current regimen from the perspective of payers, key influencers, and patients. These interviews have lead to a review of the attributes that key decision-makers would want in a new regimen with regard to safety, efficacy, drug delivery, side effect profiles, and cost in order to replace the current treatment scheme.
Published in August of 2009,
"What Countries Want" identifies key issues around the methods used for testing new TB regimens, with a focus on the factors that would subsequently affect the adoption of these regimens.
General trends emerging from the study included:
- A vast majority of interviewees said drugs that shorten treatment duration would be of high value, with a reduction of two months from the current treatment regimen for drug-sensitive disease representing a significant improvement.
- Stakeholders said they would be willing to pay more for faster-acting TB drugs because drugs represent a relatively small portion of current TB program costs. In addition, a shorter therapy could help to increase adherence, thus increasing effectiveness and reducing the development of drug-resistant TB, which is considerably more expensive to treat.
- Recommendation of a new regimen by the World Health Organization was seen as necessary but not sufficient to drive adoption in most high-burden countries.
- Stakeholders in four of the five countries studied would require or prefer data from trials in their own countries, suggesting the need to conduct pivotal trials in multiple regions. Data on real-world effectiveness may also be necessary.
- The primary concerns about changing regimens vary widely among countries, suggesting that future efforts will be a mixture of meeting and tempering expectations.
To download the full report
click here [.pdf - 560kb]
