Dare Babalola
A groundbreaking injectable HIV-prevention drug is set to become available in generic form in 120 low and middle-income countries at a significantly reduced price of $40 per year.
Unitaid and the Gates Foundation made this known on Wednesday, adding that the initiative aims to make the drug more accessible to those who need it most starting from 2027.
The drug, lenacapavir, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by over 99.9% and is administered via a twice-yearly injection.
Marketed under the brand name Yeztugo by California-based Gilead Sciences, lenacapavir currently costs around $28,000 a year in the United States.
The Unitaid’s strategic lead for HIV, Carmen Perez Casas, told AFP that far cheaper generic versions are therefore “really critical for the scale-up of prevention of HIV”.
“Now, with this product, we can end HIV,” Perez Casas said.
In October last year, Gilead announced that it had signed licensing deals with six generic drugmakers to produce and sell the world’s first long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in poorer countries.
A handout photo made available on September 19, 2025, by Unitaid/Gilead Sciences, Inc shows the generic version of the new HIV prevention tool, injectable lenacapavir, which will be available at a cost of 40 USD per year¹ in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027, as part of a new partnership to be announced on September 24, 2025. (Photo by GILEAD SCIENCES, INC / AFP)
Unitaid, an international health agency, said Wednesday that a partnership had been established with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHA) and Wits RHI to provide the drug at an annual cost of $40 per person across 120 nations starting in 2027.
Perez Casas added, “The product is going to be at the beginning manufactured in India. But we also are working towards regional production in the future.”
On its part, the Gates Foundation also announced on Wednesday that it had entered into a similar partnership with Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero.
According to a statement by Trevor Mundel, head of global health at the Gates Foundation, “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.”
Since 2010, global efforts have helped slash the number of new HIV infections by 40 percent, but UNAIDS data still shows 1.3 million people contracted HIV in 2024.
Pending the arrival of the new generic versions, another agreement between Gilead and the Global Fund aims to help provide affordable access to the drug in lower-income countries.
Washington confirmed earlier this month that it would honour a 2024 agreement to back that project, sparing it from President Donald Trump’s foreign aid blitz.
The initiative, which follows the US approval of Yeztugo in June, aims to deliver the first units to at least one African country by the end of this year.
