BD and Find (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) have announced a price reduction in the cost of liquid culture testing.
The agreement between the two organisations lowers the cost of BD MGIT reagents.
BD's TB diagnostic technologies utilise liquid culture, a key 'standard of care' TB testing protocol that provides results more quickly than traditional, solid media culture.
The liquid culture test, widely used in modern research settings, is particularly effective for stemming the spread of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in developing countries.
The price reduction - announced five months earlier than anticipated - arises from a November 2007 agreement between BD and Find.
At that time, BD agreed to reduce prices upon the completion of 3.5 million tests, a milestone achieved in June 2009.
The lower prices will enable more tests to be administered in 39 high-burden countries, as identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Under the terms of the agreement, the reagents will now be discounted 80 per cent.
Slight price variations will occur for end users because of shipping costs, tariffs, fees and other local costs that vary from country to country.
The agreement provides for potential added discounts as test-tube volume expands.
BD and Find said they were able to accelerate the programme with the help of financial support from a consortium consisting of Unitaid, the Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI) and Global Drug Facility (GDF), along with Find itself.
Over the next four years, it is expected that partners GDF, GLI and Find will provide equipment, reagents and technical expertise in identified countries for modernising and expanding TB laboratory diagnostic capacity.
