Cheap supplies of a groundbreaking twice-yearly HIV prevention jab will be available in many poorer countries within two years, funders have promised.

Lenacapavir will cost $40 (£30) a patient a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries from 2027, under two agreements with generic drug manufacturers announced this week.

Last year there were 1.3m new HIV infections globally and experts have said that lenacapavir, as a preventive drug or “pre-exposure prophylaxis” (PrEP), could have a transformative effect on that figure. The drug, given as an injection every six months, almost completely prevented new cases of HIV in clinical trials.

The World Health Organization recommended it as a preventive drug in July, with the director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, describing it as “the next best thing” to an HIV vaccine.

There had been questions about whether the drug would be affordable enough to make a difference in the countries with the highest rates of HIV. It was launched in the US with a list price of $28,218 a year.

Gilead, which brought the drug to market, has now granted voluntary licences to six generic manufacturers, including Dr Reddy’s and Hetero Labs, to supply the product in 120 low- and middle-income countries through national HIV programmes and organisations such as the Global Fund.

Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (Chai) and the Johannesburg-based Wits RHI have entered into partnership with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, while the Gates Foundation has an agreement with Hetero Labs.

The $40 price tag will put the injectable drug in the same bracket as HIV-prevention pills, which many people at higher risk of infection struggle to take. The stigma surrounding HIV often means they want, or need, to hide the fact they are taking them.

Unitaid’s director, Dr Philippe Duneton, said: “Securing a $40 price for the twice-yearly lenacapavir injection for PrEP is a historic breakthrough that proves the most advanced tools can be made affordable from the very start.”

Lenacapavir described as ‘next best thing’ to an HIV vaccine will cost $40 a year for each patient in 120 countries from 2027, funders say

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