September 24, 2025
Today, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, global health leaders announced two landmark agreements to make the twice-yearly HIV prevention injection lenacapavir more accessible and affordable.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Unitaid, and Wits RHI will partner with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to expand access to lenacapavir, which was originally developed by Gilead Sciences, and offer it at $40 per year in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027. At the same time, the Gates Foundation will support Hetero Drugs with upfront funding and volume guarantees to accelerate generic supply. Gilead Sciences royalty-free licenses are available to six generic drug manufacturers, as of 2024, covering 120 low- and middle-income countries.
“Securing a $40 price for the twice-yearly lenacapavir is one of the most significant accomplishments we have seen in global health in the last decade. Lenacapavir is in a league of its own as a prevention tool: it has been carefully developed to meet the needs of people most at risk of HIV. The combination of the drug’s extraordinary effectiveness and these rapid and powerful partnerships driving rapid generic availability means that the long-promised impact of this breakthrough prevention tool can now be fully realized,” said Dr. Charles B. Holmes.
“While existing PrEP options are highly effective, access remains limited, and a range of barriers have impeded efforts to equitably scale up delivery to the people and places where PrEP is most needed. Preventing HIV is hard and requires persistent, continuous effort. This innovative new option represents an important advance. These agreements will allow more people in low- and middle-income countries to rapidly access these life-saving medicines and raise the hope that we can significantly advance progress in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Jeffrey S. Crowley.
Dr. Charles B. Holmes is the director of the Georgetown Center for Innovation in Global Health, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, and serves as a distinguished scholar and program director at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Dr. Holmes is a physician who has held senior global health leadership roles in government, academia, and non-governmental organizations. He served as the chief medical officer and Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR in the Department of State under Ambassador Eric Goosby during the Obama-Biden administration.
Jeffrey S. Crowley is a distinguished scholar and director of the Center for HIV and Infectious Disease Policy at the O’Neill Institute. He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. He is a widely recognized expert on HIV/AIDS and disability policy. He served as the director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and senior advisor on disability policy from 2009 to 2011. In this role, he led the development of the 2010 National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States.
DISCLAIMER: The Center for HIV and Infectious Disease Policy receives support from Gilead Sciences, Merck, and ViiV Healthcare. Dr. Holmes receives grant support from the Gates Foundation and serves as an advisor at the Gates Medical Research Institute.