HIV-Prevention Drug To Be Available For Rs 3,500 A Year From 2027

The program plans to deliver initial supplies to at least one African nation before the end of this year.

Affordable generic versions of an innovative injectable HIV-prevention medication will be accessible for approximately $40 or Rs 3,548 annually across more than 100 countries starting in 2027, according to announcements from Unitaid and the Gates Foundation on Wednesday.

The organizations have established independent agreements with Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce lower-cost generic versions of lenacapavir—a biannual injection demonstrated to decrease HIV transmission risk by over 99.9 percent—for low- and middle-income nations.

Currently marketed as Yeztugo by California-based Gilead Sciences, lenacapavir costs approximately $28,000 annually in the United States.

According to Carmen Perez Casas, Unitaid's strategic lead for HIV, these significantly less expensive generic alternatives are "really critical for the scale-up of prevention of HIV," as she explained to AFP during an interview.

"Now, with this product, we can end HIV."

In October last year, Gilead announced licensing agreements with six generic drug manufacturers to produce and distribute the world's first long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in less affluent countries.

Unitaid, an international health agency, announced Wednesday that a partnership had been formed with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Wits RHI to supply the drug at an annual cost of $40 per person across 120 countries beginning in 2027.

"The product is going to be at the beginning manufactured in India," stated Perez Casas.

"But we also are working towards regional production in the future."

The Gates Foundation also revealed Wednesday that it had entered into a comparable partnership with Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero.

"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," Trevor Mundel, head of global health at the Gates Foundation, declared in a statement.

Since 2010, global initiatives have helped reduce new HIV infections by 40 percent, but UNAIDS data still shows 1.3 million people contracted HIV in 2024.

While awaiting the arrival of these new generic versions, another agreement between Gilead and the Global Fund aims to facilitate affordable access to the drug in lower-income countries.

Washington confirmed earlier this month that it would honor a 2024 agreement to support that project, protecting it from President Donald Trump's foreign aid reductions.

The initiative, following 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.