Activists at AIDS2024 Demand: Break Gilead’s Lenacapavir Monopoly
Gilead’s Price is 1,000 Times the Target Generic Price for 100% Effective Prevention Shot
MSF calls on pharmaceutical corporation Gilead to make groundbreaking HIV prevention drug lenacapavir affordable for all
Munich, 23 July 2024: Today at the International AIDS Conference, a coalition of activists, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), called for immediate global action to break Gilead’s monopoly on lenacapavir, in response to new data showing that generic lenacapavir can be produced at a price one thousand times less than Gilead’s price of $42,250 per year. With mass production, costs for generic lenacapavir are estimated to be initially $100 per year, with further reductions to $40 per year as demand increases.
The PURPOSE 1 trial has shown the safety and 100% efficacy of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), in stopping HIV acquisition among cisgender adult and adolescent women. Worldwide there are 1.3 million infections every year, with one new HIV infection every 24 seconds. Gilead has released no details about their plans for global access—beyond one statement. 25% of all new HIV infections are in Russia, Brazil, Philippines, Ukraine, and Thailand, all countries Gilead routinely excludes from licensing deals.
“Lenacapavir could be lifechanging for people at risk of getting HIV and could reverse the epidemic if it is made affordable in the countries with the highest rate of new infections,” said Dr Helen Bygrave, chronic disease advisor at MSF’s Access Campaign. “MSF would be eager to start offering people lenacapavir in our medical programmes, but to do so, we need Gilead to license the drug to other producers through the Medicines Patent Pool in order to allow generic production and supply in all low- and middle-income countries. Gilead also needs to urgently publish a price for lenacapavir that is affordable for governments and people everywhere. Research released today shows that one year’s supply of lenacapavir could be sold at a profit for under $100 per person per year, but Gilead currently charges over $42,000 per year in the US. This kind of pricing undermines the potential of this scientific breakthrough and slows the global effort to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS.”
“100% effectiveness demands 100% access,” said Asia Russell of Health GAP, a global HIV advocacy organization. “Lenacapavir for HIV prevention is a potentially pandemic defeating intervention. Gilead has a long track record of undermining global access by excluding middle-income countries from voluntary licensing deals and artificially restricting licensees. Therefore, we call on governments to break Gilead’s monopoly, by issuing non-voluntary licenses, wherever Gilead’s patents present a barrier.”
“In India, we will fight Gilead’s patents on lenacapavir so that we have a supply of generics for all low- and middle-income countries,” said Loon Gangte of the Delhi Network of People Living with HIV (DNP+). HIV community organizations in India, Argentina, Thailand and Vietnam have filed eight oppositions against Gilead’s lenacapavir patent applications–the Thai Network of People living with HIV (TNP+), DNP+, Fundación Grupo Efecto Positivo, and the Vietnam Network of People living with HIV (VNP+).
Shailly Gupta
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