Novelist John Green launches attack on Cepheid over the price of its TB test
John Green, a novelist and popular YouTuber, is once again leveraging his star power in the global fight to end tuberculosis.
John Green, a novelist and high-profile YouTuber, is once again leveraging his star power in the global fight to end tuberculosis. His latest target? The diagnostics company Cepheid and the price of its tuberculosis test, GeneXpert.
Cepheid sells individual test cartridges for $9.98 each, which lab technicians can analyze in a speedy machine that is also sold by the company. But in a scathing YouTube video posted Tuesday, Green argued the price is prohibitive for patients in lower-income countries. Citing an analysis from Doctors without Borders, he noted the tests cost around $4.64 to make. Halve the $10 price tag, Green maintained, and the company can save lives by giving more people access to early detection of TB. Tuberculosis kills 1.5 million people each year, and is most prevalent in countries like India, Indonesia, China, and Nigeria.
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