To the CEO of Danaher, Rainer Blair and President of Cepheid, Vitor Rocha:

We call on you to drop the price of your GeneXpert medical tests supplied to low- and middle-income countries to US$5 each for all diseases so that millions more people around the world can be properly diagnosed and receive the treatment they need to stay alive and healthy.

Background

The medical test maker Cepheid, owned by US corporation Danaher, vastly overcharges low- and middle-income countries for their ‘GeneXpert’ tests used to diagnose diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis, Ebola and STIs. A Doctors Without Borders study shows that Cepheid and Danaher could be charging $5 for each of these medical tests and still make a profit, but instead, they charge up to triple and quadruple that price even in the world’s poorest countries.

Last September, after a lot of pressure from around 150 organizations, and thousands of activists online, Cepheid and Danaher reduced the price of the primary tuberculosis (TB) test by 20%. This is already helping save millions of dollars for governments and global health institutions buying TB tests for millions of people and will allow millions of additional tests to be purchased each year. -- BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH.

The corporations continue to charge low-and middle-income countries between $15 and $20 for the same type of test that can help diagnose multiple other diseases, including drug-resistant TB, HIV, and hepatitis. These prices are 200% to 400% higher than what it costs Cepheid and Danaher to make one test. Plus, they keep prices exorbitantly high for low- and middle-income countries, even though they are selling millions more tests year on year, which has brought costs down for them through economies of scale. And on top of that, they got more than $252 million in public funding, primarily from the US government, to help develop the test in the first place!

The high price of GeneXpert tests is the main barrier for countries and healthcare providers to expand medical testing and save more lives by getting people the treatment they need faster. The statistics are staggering: 60% of people with TB can’t access a World Health Organization-recommended TB test like GeneXpert, and half of infants exposed to HIV are not tested for HIV within the first 2 months of life, as is recommended by WHO.

Help us get Cepheid and Danaher to prioritise people’s lives over their exorbitant profits. In 2023 alone, Danaher made almost $24 BILLION in revenue, and CEO Rainer Blair attributed their “better-than-expected" revenue directly to Cepheid’s sales. More affordable GeneXpert tests will help reduce needless suffering and unnecessary loss of life. Why wait any longer to lower the price?

Now is the time for Cepheid and Danaher to drop the price of GeneXpert tests to $5 each for all diseases and save many more lives in low- and middle-income countries!

206,937 signed so far.

Help us stop Cepheid and its owner Danaher’s profiteering on lifesaving medical tests.

Latest updates

Hidden Costs: GeneXpert Tests and Danaher’s Delayed Audit

Wed, 4 Sep 2024

GeneXpert diagnostic tests have simplified testing for diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), HIV and hepatitis C, but people in low- and middle-income countries struggle to access these tests due to their high prices. The “Time For $5” campaign is a global campaigning and advocacy effort calling on the test manufacturer, Cepheid, and their parent corporation, Danaher, to reduce the price of all GeneXpert tests to $5 per test.

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MSF and partners protest medical test maker Cepheid and Danaher at International AIDS Conference

Mon, 29 Jul 2024

MSF protested at the International AIDS Conference held in Munich, alongside activists and civil society partners from the Time for $5 campaign.

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Open letter to Danaher employees

Fri, 28 Jun 2024

MSF and other partners in the Time for $5 campaign sent an open letter to the employees of Danaher and its affiliate companies. 

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Watch our webinar on access to affordable TB tests!

Thu, 30 May 2024

In case you missed it, watch our webinar on ensuring global access to TB tests from the Canadian perspective.

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Join our webinar on the Canadian perspective on access to affordable TB tests

Fri, 17 May 2024

Join our webinar, 'Ensuring global access to affordable diagnostics for tuberculosis: A Canadian perspective' with Stop TB Canada & PIH Canada.

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Poland's Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases joins calls for affordable tests

Fri, 17 May 2024

Poland’s Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases sent a letter to Danaher and Cepheid, demanding a reduction in the price for their test cartridges.

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