On Wednesday, Unitaid and the Gates Foundation announced that generic versions of a groundbreaking injectable HIV-prevention drug, lenacapavir, should be available for only “$40 a year” in more than 100 countries starting in 2027.
This twice-yearly injection has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent.
The drug is currently sold as Yeztugo by California-based Gilead Sciences and costs approximately “$28,000 a year in the United States.
Carmen Perez Casas, Unitaid’s strategic lead for HIV, told AFP that these cheaper generic versions are really critical for the scale-up of prevention of HIV.
She added that “with this product, we can end HIV.
To achieve the lower price, Unitaid has entered into an agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHA), and Wits RHI to provide the drug across 120 nations.
The Gates Foundation also announced that it has a similar partnership with Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero.
The drug will initially be manufactured in India, with plans to pursue regional production in the future.”
Trevor Mundel, head of global health at the Gates Foundation, stated that “Scientific advances like lenacapavir can help us end the HIV epidemic, if they are made accessible to people who can benefit from them the most.”
Although global efforts since 2010 have helped slash the number of new HIV infections by 40 percent, data from UNAIDS still shows that 1.3 million people contracted HIV in 2024.
An interim agreement between Gilead and the Global Fund aims to provide affordable access to the drug in lower-income countries before the generic versions become available.
The U.S. government confirmed it would back this initiative, which aims to deliver the first units of the drug to at least one African country by the end of this year.
