MSF and Partners Protest Medical Test Maker Cepheid and Danaher at International AIDS Conference

25 July 2024

Time for $5 Campaign demands Cepheid reduce price of HIV, TB, and hepatitis C tests to $5 each

Munich, July 25, 2024 – A day after US medical test maker Cepheid’s parent corporation Danaher reported $5.7 billion in sales in quarter 2, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) protested at the International AIDS Conference alongside activists and civil society partners from the Time for $5 Campaign, calling on Cepheid and Danaher to reduce the price of GeneXpert medical tests for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis C and other diseases to no more than $5 each. Research published by MSF in 2019 on the cost of production of the tests estimates that Cepheid could sell each test for $5 at a profit.

The Time for $5 coalition launched a public campaign in September 2023 calling on Cepheid and Danaher to reduce the price of all medical tests for low- and middle-income countries to no more than $5 each. A global petition targeting the corporations has so far gathered almost 200,000 signatures. Despite sustained pressure from civil society and 7 countries’ health ministries that have written to Cepheid and Danaher expressing concerns with the high price of medical tests, the corporations have remained unresponsive since announcing an important 20% price reduction for the standard TB test in September 2023. Cepheid could also not be found at the conference.

Saloni Fruehauf, Campaign Manager, MSF Access Campaign:

“We’re here at the AIDS Conference where HIV and its associated infections, such as TB and hepatitis C, are being discussed and we’re calling on Cepheid to play its part in making sure critical and lifesaving medical tests are affordable for everyone who needs them,” said Saloni Fruehauf, Campaign Manager at MSF’s Access Campaign. “Almost 200,000 people are urging Cepheid and Danaher to do the right thing and drop the price of GeneXpert tests to $5 each, so that more people can be tested and diagnosed and then treated for the diseases they have. Seven government health ministries have spoken out about how they are impacted by Cepheid and Danaher’s high prices and it is shocking to see that the two corporations have ignored their pleas so far. Meanwhile, Danaher continues to rake in huge earnings. Cepheid and Danaher took an important step in the right direction ten months ago with an initial price reduction, but we need them to do much more now as many lives continue to be at stake.”

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières