Prime Highlights:
- A new twice-yearly HIV prevention injection, lenacapavir, will be available at low cost in 120 lower-income countries starting in 2027.
- The drug is considered a breakthrough in HIV prevention, providing a simpler and more affordable option compared to daily pills.
Key Facts:
- Lenacapavir works as a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), reducing the risk of HIV infection among adults and adolescents.
- The generic version of the drug will cost around $40 (€34) per year, while the initial dose requires two extra oral tablets for quick protection, costing about $16.80 (€14).
Key Background:
A new twice-yearly HIV prevention injection, lenacapavir, will be offered at low cost in 120 lower-income countries from 2027. The drug is seen as a major step forward in fighting HIV, which affects about 40.8 million people worldwide.
Under the new agreement, a generic version of lenacapavir will be offered at just $40 (€34) per year, matching the price of the widely used daily oral version. Unlike the daily pill, the injectable version requires only two doses per year, making it more accessible and easier to adhere to, according to Unitaid, an organization that works to improve access to medicines in lower-income nations.
The rollout comes amid concerns over shrinking global health budgets in wealthier nations, including uncertainty surrounding major HIV programs like the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The agreement follows the drug’s recent approvals by both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
To ensure rapid protection, patients receiving their first lenacapavir jab will also take two oral tablets on the day of injection and two the following day, costing around $16.80 (€14). Subsequent doses every six months will not require additional pills. Lenacapavir works as a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), preventing the virus from replicating and reducing the risk of HIV infection among adults and adolescents.
The pharmaceutical company Gilead manufactures the injectable version, which is priced at over $28,000 (€24,000) per year in wealthy countries. Through deals with six generic drug makers and health organizations like Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, lenacapavir will be made available at low cost to millions of people who need it.
Unitaid expects strong demand in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV rates are high. Efforts are also being made to raise awareness, improve understanding of the treatment, and expand access to middle-income countries not covered by the current agreement, such as Brazil, which is seeing more new HIV infections even as AIDS-related deaths fall.
The researchers think that lenacapavir might be useful in reducing the incidence of HIV infections and offer an easy and cost-effective preventive measure to millions of people who are at risk.
