Long-term impact of the adoption of bedaquiline-containing regimens on the burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis in China

Currently available injectable agents are inadequate to address the high drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) burden in China. Regimens including the oral agent bedaquiline have been shown to be efficacious and safe, leading to its incorporation into multiple national TB treatment programs. This analysis evaluated the impact of increased adoption of bedaquiline-containing regimens on the DR-TB burden in China.

A state-transition model was developed that permits movement and interaction between susceptible, latent, and active TB disease states, while distinguishing between drug-sensitive (DS) and DR-TB. Model inputs were obtained from the published literature or derived such that model metrics approximated those published by the WHO. Expected improvements in infrastructure were built into the model to forecast the epidemiology of DR-TB in China through 2040 in the absence of bedaquiline (baseline forecast). The impact of higher utilization of bedaquiline-containing regimens (85% peak share) was then assessed in two scenarios that differed with regard to treatment success rates of the regimens: 61% (reflecting findings of clinical trials) and 80% (reflecting data from observational studies), versus the 44% success rate associated with standard-of-care treatment.

In the baseline scenario, the model predicted increases in annual incidence of DR-TB by 6–8% during each five-year period between 2020 and 2040, with an increase of 30% over the entire study duration. Adoption of bedaquiline-based regimens limits the incidence increases to only 1–3% in each five-year period and to 8% over the study duration in the 61% success rate scenario. Incidence declines by 1–6% during each five-year period and by 12% over the study duration in the 80% success rate scenario. Similar effects on DR-TB prevalence (4–5% increase in baseline, 0–7% decline in scenario 1, and 4–19% decline in scenario 2) and mortality (5–7% increase in baseline, 0–16% decline in scenario 1, and 6–40% decline in scenario 2) were seen following bedaquiline adoption.

Incorporation of bedaquiline into DR-TB treatment regimens will significantly reduce the DR-TB burden in China, helping to counter the expected increase in burden in the absence of bedaquiline. The study will provide valuable information to public health policy planners.