A treatment considered very promising against AIDS, which costs about $40,000 per person each year, could fall to around $40 in a generic version, according to an estimate unveiled Tuesday by researchers at the 25e International AIDS Conference.
This antiretroviral, developed by the American giant Gilead from the molecule lenacapavir, could be a game-changer against AIDS, according to many international specialists.
It requires only two injections a year, making it much easier to administer than daily tablets. And it is also being tested as a preventative drug (PrEP) to avoid infection, with 100% effectiveness according to a recent preliminary study.
The treatment, which is received “like a vaccine,” could “stop HIV transmission” if given to people at high risk, such as gay or bisexual men, sex workers, prisoners or young women, particularly in Africa, Andrew Hill of the British University of Liverpool, who presented the study, told AFP.
At about $40,000 a year — its current cost in countries such as the United States, France, Norway and Australia — lenacapavir is out of reach for most patients.
If the American giant allowed its manufacture in a generic version, this cost could fall to 40 dollars, calculated the researchers, who presented their work – not peer-reviewed – in Munich.
They based their assessment on an assumption of orders for 10 million people.
To estimate the cost of a generic version, the researchers, among other things, discussed with major generic manufacturers in China and India, which already produce the “bricks” of the treatment, said Andrew Hill.
About a decade ago, the team of researchers estimated that Gilead’s hepatitis C treatment — then priced at $84,000 per patient — could plummet to $100 if generics were approved. “Now it costs less than $40 to treat hepatitis C,” the scientist said.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima urged Gilead, in an interview with AFP published Monday, to “make history” by authorising the manufacture of generic versions of its antiretroviral.
Gilead, the subject of a pressure campaign by numerous personalities and NGOs, has stated in recent months that it is discussing “regularly” with those involved in the fight against HIV, “including governments and NGOs”, to ensure access to treatment “for as many people as possible”.
While some 30 million people living with the AIDS virus worldwide are receiving antiretroviral treatment, around 10 million are not.
About 1.3 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2023.