Minimum manufacturing costs, national prices and estimated global availability of new repurposed therapies for COVID-19
Wang et al.,
Minimum manufacturing costs, national prices and estimated global availability of new repurposed therapies for..,
medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.06.01.21258147 (Review) (Preprint)
Analysis of the manufacturing cost of several COVID-19 medications, showing a cost of $0.55 per course of ivermectin, including excipients, formulation, tax, and profit.
Wang et al., 3 Jun 2021, preprint, 4 authors.
Abstract: medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258147; this version posted October 18, 2021. The copyright holder for this
preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in
perpetuity.
It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .
Minimum manufacturing costs, national prices and estimated global availability of
new repurposed therapies for COVID-19.
Authors: Junzheng Wang*1, Jacob Levi*2, Leah Ellis1, Andrew Hill3
Affiliations:
1. Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London
2. Department of Intensive Care, University College London Hospital, University
College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
3. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool
*
JW and JL contributed equally to this manuscript.
Corresponding author:
Dr Andrew Hill PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
University of Liverpool,
70 Pembroke Place
Liverpool L69 3GF, UK
Email: microhaart@aol.com
Word Count: Abstract – 244; main body – 3498
Key Points (40)
•
Re-purposed drugs must be affordable worldwide to compliment COVID-19 vaccine
programmes.
•
Estimated costs/course were: dexamethasone (Oral $0.22, IV $2.58), budesonide
($4.34), baricitnib ($6.67), tocilizumab ($410.59), sarilumab ($875.70). Casirivimab
and imdevimab = no data available.
•
High drug prices will limit access.
Key Words
COVID-19, drug repurposing, drug prices, drug availability, access to medicines
NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.
1
medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258147; this version posted October 18, 2021. The copyright holder for this
preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in
perpetuity.
It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .
Abstract
Background
Currently, only dexamethasone, tocilizumab and sarilumab have conclusively been shown to
reduce mortality of COVID-19. Safe and effective treatments will need to be both affordable
and widely available globally to be used alongside vaccination programmes. This analysis
will estimate and compare potential generic minimum costs of a selection of approved
COVID-19 drug candidates with available international list prices.
Methods: We searched for repurposed drugs that have been approved by at least one of
the WHO, FDA or NICE, or at least given emergency use authorisation or recommended for
off-label prescription. Drug prices were searched for, for dexamethasone, budesonide,
baricitinib, tocilizumab, casirivimab and imdevimab, and sarilumab using active
pharmaceutical ingredients (API) data extracted from global shipping records. This was
compared with national pricing data from a range of low, medium, and high-income
countries. Annual API export volumes from India were used to estimate the current
availability of each drug.
Results: Repurposed therapies can be generically manufactured for some treatments at
very low per-course costs, ranging from $2.58 for IV dexamethasone (or $0.19 orally) and
$4.34 for inhaled budesonide. No export price data was available for baricitinib, tocilizumab,
casirivimab and imdevimab or sarilumab, but courses of these treatments are priced highly,
ranging from $6.67 for baricitinib to $875.5 for sarilumab. When comparing..
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. Vaccines and
treatments are complementary. All practical, effective, and safe means should
be used based on risk/benefit analysis. No treatment, vaccine, or intervention
is 100% available and effective for all current and future variants. We do not
provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified
physician who can provide personalized advice and details of risks and
benefits based on your medical history and situation.
FLCCC and
WCH
provide treatment protocols.
Submit