Economic evaluations of lymphatic filariasis interventions: a systematic review and research needs

Parasites & Vectors

Table 5 Drug costs and their economic value

Drug and dose	Average number of tablets needed per treatment^a	Cost/value of each tablet (US$)	Shipping cost per tablet (US$)	Average cost/value per treatment (US$)^b	Donation status
DEC (100 mg per tablet)	2.75 [35]	0.0144^c	Included in the tablet cost estimate	0.044	Eisai: 2.2 billion DEC tablets to be donated by 2020 (achieved WHO pre-qualification in 2013).
Albendazole (400 mg per tablet)	1 [105]	0.045^d [38]	0.0019 [47]	0.052	GSK: 600 million albendazole tablets available for LF control annually until it is eliminated as a public health problem
Ivermectin (3 mg per tablet)	2.8 [106]	1.5^e [06]	0.005^e [106]	4.635	Merck & Co. Inc.: Unlimited supply for the treatment of onchocerciasis and LF for as long as needed

Abbreviations: LF lymphatic filariasis, GSK GlaxoSmithKline
^aFor DEC and ivermectin the number of required tablets per treatment is depended on the age or height of the recipient and therefore the overall average is not a whole number
^bIncludes a wastage factor of 10%
^cEisai, Unpublished
^dGSK, Unpublished
^eMectizan Donation Program, Unpublished. It should be noted that these are the costs/values reported by the drugs companies that donate them. However, it is possible to procure the drugs at lower prices (see International Drug Price Indicator Guide (http://erc.msh.org/priceguide)). The table is adapted from Turner et al. [17]

ISSN: 1756-3305