Gilead should provide drug prevention medication in low -income countries

After months of anticipation, Gilead offered an agreement to provide its revolutionary drug on HIV prevention to up to 2 million people in low and intermediate income countries.

As part of the New Deal, the Global Fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will be responsible for the purchase and provision of drug doses, known as Lenacapavir and approved for sale last month in the United States under the name of Yeztugo. Gilead argued that he will provide doses at a “without profit” price.

In particular, the agreement does not include the urgency plan of the President of the United States government for AIDS, or PEPFAR aid, which has long been the world’s leading supplier of HIV prevention. In December, Pepfar announced a “coordinated effort” with three other groups to quickly deploy the medication, before the Trump administration’s deep cuts at Foreign Aid throw the ppfar in chaos and not doubt the future of any agreement.

Nevertheless, the news can calm worries around the width of the Lenacapavir.

The antiviral offers practically complete protection against the HIV contract with a single administration every six months. He was greeted as the closest thing that the field has ever had a vaccine and a tool that could bring the 45 -year -old pandemic to the heel. But defenders and researchers were worried about whether it would be made available to the countries most affected by HIV, especially after the Trump administration has started to reduce foreign aid.

However, he leaves unanswered and will revive certain concerns, including around the future plans of the administration for Pepfar. Trump proposed to reduce the financing of the $ 1.9 billion program in his 2026 budget proposal.

It is also difficult to know if the Global Fund really has resources to buy these doses alone. The group, which has spent more than $ 65 billion in infectious diseases since its foundation in 2002, faces its own budgetary problems, in particular because it has long received a substantial part of its budget from PEPFAR. Other rich countries have also reduced foreign aid in recent years.

The Director of the Global Fund, Peter Sands, seemed to indicate that the organization may need more resources to respect its commitment. “Our ambition is to reach 2 million people with prolonged action preparation,” he said in a press release. “But we can only do it if the world intervenes with the required resources.”

A spokesperson for the World Fund has told us that the organization is working closely with countries and donors to guarantee resources to support “significant deployment” of the drug, especially in high and high-income countries where the need is highest. The financing structure includes a combination of funding for grants from the Global Fund and additional support for contributions from private foundations.

His ability to support will probably depend on the director of the Duke Global Health Institute, said Global Fu

The agreement is supposed to be a bridge towards a longer -term solution that Gilead described last year, when it announced an agreement to allow certain generic manufacturers to produce and sell the rights free of rights in 120 low and intermediate income countries. This agreement is intended to provide doses while these manufacturers increase operations. However, the questions about the wider access guarantee persist.

The arrangement will be limited to eligible countries to receive the support of the World Fund, which is only a subset of these 120 countries. And Gilead did not explain how he will provide doses to the rest of the countries, noted Brook Baker, a professor of the North West University who studies access to drugs and is analyst of the main policies for the health advocacy group.

He also cited several concerns about the agreement. For example, Gilead did not provide adequate details for its plans to guarantee regulatory approval in low to medium income countries. And he reprimanded Gilead for refusing to extend his approved territories to cover 26 countries with intermediate income and territories excluded from his voluntary licenses with generic drug manufacturers. Instead, the company excluded them from its license agreements.

“When will Gilead guarantee quick, affordable and fair access in all low-to-medium income countries?” said Baker.

Another problem is the price that Gilead has not disclosed.

“It is laudable that Gilead offers to provide the product until the generic offer comes into play.

“Currently, in intermediate income countries, Gilead plans to negotiate country prices by country and as history has shown, it is not the path of universal access. Countries that are excluded from the license territory also have the possibility of working with generic companies directly by the granting of compulsory licenses. ”

But Gilead argued that he adapts his approach to each country and his regulatory process. “There is no single size for all the countries of the world, but we are committed to bringing this medication to everyone everywhere,” said Gliead Managing Director Daniel O’Day, Stat in June.

A spokesperson added that the company continues to “engage” with the American government and would use its non-profit price for other global aid organizations interested in the 120 countries.