On January 28–29, 2025, the WHO Regional Office for Europe held the third Regional Meeting on Improving Access and Availability of TB Medicines in Western Europe. The meeting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Paul Sommerfeld, Chair of the TBEC Board, represented TBEC at the event.
The high cost of TB medicines in Europe has become a significant barrier to combating TB and DR-TB. During the meeting, Western European countries and other stakeholders discussed strategies to address the rising prices of TB medicines.
The low incidence of TB and, consequently, low demand for TB medicines in Europe have created commercial and practical challenges for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare systems. This has led to limited availability and high cost, affecting people's ability to access treatment, which requires urgent attention.
The key challenge is that due to the relatively small number of TB cases in Western Europe, the market is too small for pharmaceutical companies to justify the cost and effort of registering certain TB medicines, such as rifapentine and pretomanid.
During the meeting, participants:
✔ Reviewed the
results of a study on TB medicine availability in
Europe to refine priority tasks for European Member States.
✔ Deepened
understanding of possible solutions and their feasibility by
engaging a broader range of experts.
✔ Facilitated
knowledge-sharing and problem-solving at the national level.
As a result, an ambitious yet time-consuming agreement was reached: it would be preferable to advocate for a new registration mechanism for medicines in small markets, particularly for diseases that are rarely encountered in Western Europe. In this context, countries exchanged experiences on how to navigate the current situation while remaining compliant with regulations. All NTPs were recommended to explore solutions within their respective national regulatory frameworks.
