Gilead Sciences signs royalty-free voluntary licenses with six generic manufacturers for lenacapavir for HIV prevention
Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced that it has signed non-exclusive, royalty-free voluntary licensing agreements with six pharmaceutical manufacturers to make and sell generic lenacapavir, subject to required regulatory approvals, in 120 high-incidence, resource-limited countries, which are primarily low- and lower-middle income countries
The agreements were signed in advance of any global regulatory submissions to enable these countries to quickly introduce generic versions of lenacapavir for HIV prevention, if approved.
The agreements advance Gilead’s strategy to enable broad, sustainable access to lenacapavir for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) globally if it is approved, and align with Gilead’s vision of ending the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere. Gilead will support low-cost access to the drug in high-incidence, resource-limited countries through a two-part strategy: establishing a robust voluntary licensing program, and planning to provide Gilead-supplied product at no profit to Gilead until generic manufacturers are able to fully support demand. Additionally, the agreements cover not only lenacapavir for HIV prevention (pending approval), but also lenacapavir for HIV treatment in heavily treatment-experienced (HTE) adults with multi-drug resistant HIV.
The generic companies that will manufacture and supply lenacapavir to the 120 countries are Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, Emcure, Eva Pharma, Ferozsons Laboratories Limited, Hetero and Mylan, a subsidiary of Viatris.
All six partners have successfully collaborated with Gilead to produce high-quality generic versions of medicines for HIV or other infectious diseases and are well equipped to produce sterile injectable medicines.The licensees will build manufacturing capacity for lenacapavir as quickly as possible, but this process will take time. To provide Gilead-supplied lenacapavir until generic versions are available, Gilead is prioritizing registration in 18 countries that represent about 70% of the HIV burden in the countries named in the license. These countries, identified in consultation with external partners, are Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Lenacapavir is approved in multiple countries for the treatment of adults with multi-drug resistant HIV in combination with other antiretrovirals. The use of lenacapavir for HIV prevention is investigational and the safety and efficacy of lenacapavir for this use have not been established.
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