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news.Gilead Sciences and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have signed an agreement to expedite access to the company’s twice-yearly lenacapavir injection for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Lenacapavir is currently approved in multiple countries for both HIV prevention and treatment of multi-drug-resistant HIV. Credit: Tatyana Frolova / Shutterstock.com.
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The arrangement offers a new regional pathway for long-acting HIV prevention in all PAHO Member States through its Regional Revolving Funds.
The collaboration enables 14 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, to access lenacapavir for PrEP outside of Gilead’s current voluntary licensing agreements.
This complements existing generic access mechanisms and aims to address gaps in prevention, particularly after a reported 13% rise in new HIV infections between 2010 and 2024 in the region.
According to Gilead, the partnership is built upon ongoing efforts to improve HIV prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This includes the PURPOSE 2 trial, which assessed the safety and efficacy of lenacapavir as PrEP and forms part of the company’s commitment to support broader prevention strategies.
Gilead Sciences chief commercial and corporate affairs officer Johanna Mercier said: “The agreement between Gilead and PAHO reflects our shared commitment to help countries move as quickly as possible from scientific innovation to real-world access to HIV prevention and public health impact.
“For decades, Gilead has worked alongside governments, public health organisations and communities to expand access to HIV innovation around the world. These strategic partnerships are essential to our ambition to help end the HIV epidemic.
“This agreement demonstrates how collaboration can help accelerate access, support country-led implementation and create the conditions for sustainable scale.”
Gilead will continue to explore further work with PAHO and other regional partners, including support for local production in Brazil, as part of its ongoing global access strategy for lenacapavir, which includes voluntary licensing, technology transfer, and non-profit supply.
Lenacapavir is currently approved in multiple countries for both HIV prevention and treatment of multi-drug-resistant HIV.
Prior to this, Gilead Sciences opened a new 182,000ft² research centre at its Foster City headquarters in California, US, for advancing medicines to treat challenging diseases.
