Poor countries miss out on COVID-19 drug
POOR countries like Zimbabwe are likely to miss out on a newly-recommended COVID-19 drug, tocilizumab, which is used for people with severe symptoms as its price tag is prohibitive, ranging from US$300 to US$3 000 per 600mg dose.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday updated its COVID-19 treatment guidelines and recommended that people with severe or critical symptoms must be given drugs such as tocilizumab and sarilumab.
Tocilizumab is the second drug ever recommended by WHO for COVID-19 treatment after dexamethasone in September 2020.
It belongs to a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are used in the treatment of various diseases, including cancers.
However, available mAbs have been priced extremely high, and are hence virtually impossible to access in low- and middle-income countries.
Following the announcement by WHO, other stakeholders are now calling on the drug manufacturer, Swiss Pharmaceutical Corporation Roche, to lower the price and make it affordable.
As the third wave rages across the globe, with Zimbabwe also caught up in the thick of the storm and recording almost 2 000 new infections in 24 hours, many people are now requiring admission and treatment.
Health ministry updates for Tuesday stated that 487 people were in hospital with 356 of these having mild to moderate symptoms, while 54 have severe symptoms.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has since urged Roche to lower the price of the drug, as well as calling for sharing of knowledge on its production to improve access.
“Medical practitioners in many countries in Africa and Latin America, who are grappling with newer and more transmissible variants of coronavirus, are right now struggling to keep their patients alive,” said Julien Potet, neglected tropical diseases policy adviser at MSF.
“This drug could become essential for treating people with critical and severe cases of COVID-19 and reduce the need for ventilators and medical oxygen which are scarce resources in many places.
“Roche must stop following a business-as-usual approach and take urgent steps to make this drug accessible and affordable for everyone who needs it by reducing the price and transferring the technology, know-how and cell lines to other manufacturers. Too many lives are at stake.”
Even though tocilizumab has been on the market since 2009 for treatment of rheumatologic diseases, access has remained a challenge.
Roche kept the price of this drug very high in most countries, with price tags ranging from US$410 in Australia, US$646 in India to US$3 625 in the United States per dose of 600mg for COVID-19.
However, the cost for its manufacture is estimated to be as low as US$40 per dose of 400mg.
Demand for the drug is expected to rise as COVID-19 cases surge, yet shortages of tocilizumab have been observed.
“Over the last few months, we have helplessly witnessed people in South Asia scrambling to get hold of tocilizumab for patients with severe forms of COVID-19,” said Leena Menghaney, Global IP advisor for MSF Access Campaign.
“Manufacturers based in low- and middle-income countries urgently need to register and scale up production to increase the global supply. With more than 3,9 million lives already lost to COVID-19, the world cannot wait any longer for access to treatments that can help in increasing the chances of survival.”