AIDS Society of India applauds Gilead’ licensing pact for Lenacapavir making it available to HIV patients in LMICs
The AIDS Society of India (ASI) has commended Gilead Sciences for its decision to sign royalty-free voluntary licensing agreements with six generic manufacturers to increase access to new anti-retroviral medication Lenacapavir for HIV prevention in high-incidence, resource-limited countries.
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Gilead has granted a license to generic drugmakers Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Emcure, Eva Pharma, Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero, and Viatris to produce and supply Lenacapavir to 120 countries.
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“The Gilead Sciences’ announcement on voluntary licensing of a new anti-retroviral drug Lenacapavir to generic pharmaceuticals is one of the greatest news for those infected and affected by HIV as also the HIV care-providers and it is on the expected lines. Lenacapavir currently costs USD 44000 annually for two injections to be given at 6-monthly intervals. Though it is improper to estimate, the cost will not surpass a few hundred USD per patient per year. Gilead’s license to the generic companies, will let them manufacture and supply Lenacapavir to 120 countries,” said Dr. Ishwar Gilada, President-Emeritus, ASI and Governing Council Member, International AIDS Society (IAS).
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The results from the Lenacapavir’s PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 trials as a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) are astounding as they have shown its potential to be something between a cure and a vaccine and will have ramifications for the HIV prevention as also in HIV treatment worldwide, stated Dr Gilada.
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It is very important to continue Research and Development (R&D) in the medical field to bring out new molecules for prevention, treatment and cure. However, it is all the more important to make the fruits of R&D accessible and affordable to the majority of the population, especially for the lower and mid income countries (LMIC). Just to give an indication how such licenses help to keep the ailing community in the LMIC, the hepatitis-C cure that is available for USD 84000 per patient is made available by Indian generic drugmakers at mere USD 300 (less than 0.3% of innovator’s cost), he added.
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Similarly, when the HIV treatment from innovator companies cost USD 10,452 per year in 2000, Cipla from India initially offered it for USD 365 per year and with further innovations and competitions among generic companies, the lowest quoted cost is now USD 70 per patient per year in bulk supply, he stated.
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However, how our country benefits from this remains in doldrums as the PrEP is not yet part of the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) in India and in that sense, India is way behind many LMICs, despite the fact that it makes these drugs available to rest of the world, opined President-Emeritus, ASI.
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Although the number of HIV infections in India was declining with the successful implementation of the anti-viral therapy (ART) at government-run ART centres, over 750 ART centres in different parts of India have reported a rise in HIV cases since 2020, with a high burden of the infection in young people especially those with male-sex-with-male (MSM), bisexuals, injection drug uses and jail inmates, he stated.