New TB drugs in India: Government negotiation begin for Bedaquiline, Delamanid

New Delhi: To provide an improved and better access to the TB patients with new antibiotic drugs, the government has begun its negotiation with Johnson and Johnson and Mylan Inc, according to a recent report in Mint.

As per the report, the negotiations have begun for the new antibiotic wonder drugs such as Bedaquiline and Delamanid as the government wants the drug makers to provide treatment for multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB patients as part of the government-run Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme.

Speaking with Mint, a Mylan spokesperson said, “We are working closely with the Government of India, the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program and Otsuka toward making Deltyba® accessible to patients suffering from multi-drug-resistant TB and are committed in our endeavor to do so.”

“Deltyba® is one of only two new medications developed for MDR-TB in the last 40 years. It is registered in the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Turkey, and India. Since regulatory approval, more than 4,000 treatment courses of Deltyba® have been shipped for use in over 50 countries,” the Mylan spokesperson added.

Two sources told the daily that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) along with the ministry of health and family welfare is in the talks with the companies, ahead of the “End TB Summit” where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce India’s plan to eliminate TB by 2025.

Modi will be announcing a National Strategic Plan for TB elimination at the summit, to ensure every TB patient has access to quality diagnosis, treatment, and support which is backed by a funding of over Rs12, 000 crore over the next three years.

One of the two people cited by Mint said, the government is trying to bring down the prices of the new antibiotics and a meeting was held in the PMO last Friday on the matter.

Bedaquiline is sold under the brand name Sirturo by a unit of Johnson and Johnson whereas Delamanid is sold by Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. and by Mylan in India.