Written by Jennifer Rigby
LONDON (Reuters) – Global health advocates have written to the makers of a vital mpox test to call for its price to be reduced from $20 per test to $5, to help address low testing rates in poor countries hit hard by the virus.
Medicine (TASE:) Diagnostic company Cepheid’s GeneXpert mpox test is one of three approved for use in emergencies by the World Health Organization, but the cost is worse in countries like the worst-hit Democratic Republic of Congo, activists say.
Mpox was declared a global public health emergency by the WHO this summer, when the Congo outbreak began to spread to neighboring countries. The virus usually causes fever-like symptoms and pus-filled sores and can be fatal.
This week, the WHO said cases in Africa were showing an “increasing trend” although they may be decreasing in parts of Congo. But the lack of tests hampers the ability to confirm cases, especially in Congo, one of the world’s poorest countries.
“We urge you to reduce the price of pox test cartridges to $5 and prioritize the supply to African countries fighting the mpox outbreak,” reads the letter sent by rights groups NGO Public Citizen and the medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres.
The Cepheid test is very important because the machines that process the results are available all over Africa, as they are used to test for tuberculosis.
Danaher (NYSE: ), Cepheid’s parent company, dropped its TB test prices to $7.97 last year after pressure from activists.
Asked to comment on the letter, a Cepheid spokesperson wrote: “We have worked quickly to consolidate the production of our mpox test, including in response to the WHO’s urgent request.”
The company was prioritizing orders from areas where tests were most needed and had an access program that provided a “significant” discount for orders made through the WHO and similar organizations, the statement said. It did not reveal what that discount was or comment further on the price.
The $5 price tag proposed by advocates is based on research that shows the test can be produced for less than that.
Public Citizen access to medicines director Peter Maybarduk said the latest WHO approval is an opportunity to consolidate testing. “Low prices will help health centers meet this time,” he said.
