Gilead’s lenacapavir plans “abandoning” many middle-income countries

Responding to news that Gilead Sciences has signed voluntary licensing agreements with six pharmaceutical manufacturers to make and sell generic lenacapavir, Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni, policy co-lead for the People’s Medicines Alliance, said:

“For lenacapavir to make a real difference in preventing and treating HIV, it must be widely available and affordable to all who need it. Activists have campaigned for months to pressure Gilead into licensing generic lenacapavir through the UN-backed Medicine Patent Pool, but the company has decided to license on its own terms – and hasn’t even announced a price.

“Behind the seemingly large numbers of countries included in the license, Gilead is largely abandoning upper-middle-income countries, where new infections are highest, with nearly all of Latin America left out. And it has imposed draconian conditions to stop companies from selling beyond the listed countries.

“The countries that have been excluded can use their legal rights to overcome intellectual property restrictions with a compulsory license. However, Gilead’s agreement prevents the six licensee companies from selling to those countries. Moreover, this route is fraught with difficulties and can face legal challenges from industry. But it is a country’s right, and should be used if necessary.”

/ ENDS

Notes

This is a reaction to an announcement from Gilead Sciences: https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2024/gilead-signs-royalty-free-voluntary-licensing-agreements-with-six-generic-manufacturers-to-increase-access-to-lenacapavir-for-hiv-prevention-in-high-incidence-resource-limited-countries

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

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 lenacapavir to all low and middle-income countries through the Medicines Patent Pool: https://peoplesmedicines.org/resources/media-releases/gilead-should-share-hiv-medicine/

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