Gilead HIV medicine news marred by little hope for developing countries

Responding to news that Gilead’s PURPOSE 2 trial of twice-yearly injections of Lenacapavir reduced HIV Infections by 96%, Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Policy co-lead for the People’s Medicines Alliance, said:

“This exciting news is marred by Gilead’s refusal to work with the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool to license a generic version of this medicine for developing countries. Gilead speaks only in general terms about an ‘access strategy’ for ‘high incidence, resource limited’ countries. That offers only vague hope for people in low-income countries – and hardly any hope for people in middle-income countries where new infections are rising.

“Gilead still hasn’t announced how much they will charge for Lenacapavir once it is approved as as PrEP, but we know that the company prices Lenacapavir for treating HIV at around $40,000 in the United States. Yet experts have shown that Lenacapavir can be sold – and be profitable –  for just $100 per patient per year at launch, falling to $40 as demand increases leading to higher volume. This should be the benchmark for prices – Gilead must not be allowed to profiteer at the expense of public health.”

/ ENDS

Notes

More than 300 experts, world leaders, and activists – including the scientist who first discovered HIV – have called on Gilead to license a generic version of lenacpavir to all low and middle income countries through the Medicines Patent Pool: https://peoplesmedicines.org/resources/media-releases/gilead-should-share-hiv-medicine/

Experts have shown Lenacapavir can be made and sold for as little as $100 at launch, falling to just $40: https://academic.oup.com/jac/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jac/dkae305/7748089?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

Clinical trials were conducted in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the United States. Under the Helsinki Declaration, the global standard for medical ethics, Gilead must provide lenacapavir to the participants in these clinical trials and their communities.

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Joe Karp-Sawey
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