Statement to be attributed to Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chair of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson on announcing a new commitment in support of the pioneering efforts by the Government of South Africa to fight multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
We are proud to stand alongside the Government of South Africa—a country that has shown tremendous leadership in the fight against TB—and announce a major commitment in support of their recent decision to provide a bedaquiline-containing, injection-free regimen for all eligible MDR-TB patients.
Tackling the global burden of MDR-TB is a shared responsibility and one we take extremely seriously. We have offered a commitment to the South African National Department of Health to provide bedaquiline at a special effort price to enable rapid scale-up to a much larger population that will now benefit from more effective and less toxic treatment.
In anticipation of other countries following South Africa’s pioneering example, and to further catalyze action to tackle MDR-TB, we will also offer this special effort price to eligible national TB programs procuring bedaquiline through the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility.
When bedaquiline was introduced in December 2012, it was the first new TB treatment with a novel mechanism of action in more than 40 years. Since then, we have worked with partners and committed significant resources to deliver nearly 65,000 courses of treatment to patients in need in more than 100 countries.
Building on today’s commitment, we will continue to leverage our science and capabilities to deliver on Dr. Paul Janssen’s mission to end TB and change the trajectory of health for millions around the world.