Doctors Without Borders is calling on the manufacturer of a newly approved COVID-19 drug to lower the price and make it more accessible to anyone who needs it.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday recommended the drug tocilizumab for people with severe COVID-19.
Doctors Without Borders said Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company and the drug's only producer, currently charges as much as $3,625 for every 600 milligram dose in the U.S. used to treat COVID-19. The drug can be manufactured for as few as $40 per 400 milligram dose, the organization said.
"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," Julien Potet, Neglected Tropical Diseases policy advisor at Doctors Without Borders' access campaign, said Tuesday in a statement.
The World Health Organization has recommended just three drugs for COVID-19 treatment: Dexamethasone last September, plus sarilumab and tocilizumab on Tuesday.
Tocilizumab is part of a class of drugs known as monoclonal antibodies, which are used to treat many diseases, including cancers. The drug has been on the market since 2009, but Doctors Without Borders said secondary patents in low- and middle-income countries prevent other manufacturers from making generic versions.
The organization said that practically gives Roche a monopoly and allows them to charge exorbitant prices.
"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," Potet said. "Too many lives are at stake."
