Estimated total cost of 6-month treatment with bedaquiline

Bedaquiline is one of the core drugs currently used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). It is widely used around the world, especially in the context of the increasing drug resistance rate of tuberculosis. For adult patients, the standard treatment cycle of bedaquiline is 24 weeks (i.e. 6 months), and the dosage regimen is as follows: 400 mg once a day for the first two weeks; 200 mg three times a week from 3 to 24 weeks, with at least 48 hours between doses. The total amount of medication used in this treatment process is large, so the cost of medication is a big burden for patients. However, the price differences are obvious between different regions, channels and versions of drugs.

Take the Chinese market as an example. Bedaquiline has been officially launched under the trade name "Bedaquiline Fumarate Tablets". The specification is 100mg × 24 tablets. The reference retail price is about 10,000 yuan per box, and it has been included in the medical insurance catalog. If calculated strictly according to dosage, the total dosage for the entire 6-month treatment cycle is 18800 mg, which is equivalent to 188 tablets, each tablet is 100 mg. Therefore, from the perspective of the original drug, it is estimated that the price of nearly 8 boxes of the original drug will be needed.

In overseas markets, especially in countries such as Russia, bedaquiline original drugs are sold in larger packages, such as 100 mg × 188 tablets per box, with a price of around 1.5 million yuan. However, due to cross-border drug purchases, there are problems such as exchange rate fluctuations, logistics costs, and legal risks. At the same time, countries such as India have also launched generic versions of bedaquiline. Its main ingredients are consistent with the original research and its quality standards are close. It has been used in many countries for treatment. The price advantage of generic drugs is obvious. For example, a box of 188 tablets costs about RMB 2,000, which greatly reduces the total cost of treatment.

Reference materials:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedaquiline