Cheaper Versions Of HIV Prevention Drugs For 120 Low-Income Countries
LAGOS OCTOBER 7TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Manufacturing Company, Gilead Sciences, has announced that cheaper versions of the “gamechanger” HIV prevention drug, lenacapavir, will be made available in 120 low and middle-income countries.
Currently, the drug is priced at $42,250 annually in the US under the brand name Sunlenca, but researchers believe it could be produced for as low as $40 (£30) for a patient per year.
According to The Guardian, UK, the company had signed agreements with six manufacturers to produce and sell generic versions of lenacapavir in 120 “high-incidence, resource-limited” countries, primarily lower-income nations.
In the interim, the company would provide its products, focusing on registration in 18 countries with high HIV rates, including Botswana and South Africa.
It stated that Lenacapavir, which requires only two injections per year, has demonstrated impressive efficacy in preventing HIV.
Gilead disclosed that the drug stopped infections in clinical trials on girls and women in South Africa and Uganda, while a separate trial among men in countries like Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa showed nearly complete protection.
Meanwhile, Policy Co-lead for the People’s Medicines Alliance, Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, criticised Gilead’s decision to license the drug directly rather than through the UN-backed Medicine Patent Pool.
She noted that the agreements come with “draconian conditions” that may limit access for those in excluded countries.
Kamal-Yanni stated, “While Gilead lists a significant number of countries in the license, many upper-middle-income countries, where new infections are on the rise, are left out, particularly in Latin America.”
The Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Winnie Byanyima, emphasised the potential of lenacapavir to be transformative if it reaches all those who need it.
“We commend Gilead for licensing the drug without waiting for registration; this should be standard practice,” she said.
However, she expressed concern that 41 per cent of new infections occur in upper-middle-income countries and warned that their exclusion could undermine the drug’s impact.
Punch
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Posted by News Rangers
on Oct 7 2024. Filed under Health, National.
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