By: Bunmi Yekini
A recent study published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy reveals that the price of lenacapavir, a promising HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug, could be dramatically reduced to less than $100 per year if produced generically. Currently, the cost of the drug is as high as $44,819 per person annually.
Lenacapavir, which only needs to be administered every six months, has the potential to protect tens of millions of people at high risk of HIV infection. In 2022 alone, 1.3 million people contracted the virus despite improvements in HIV prevention and treatment.
The researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis using a “Cost-Plus” model, which factors in the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), starting materials, and production methods. They found that by mass producing the drug and using voluntary licensing, lenacapavir could be priced at approximately $94 per person per year when supplying 1 million treatment-years and even lower—$41 per year—for 10 million treatment-years.
One of the study’s authors noted, “The potential for significant price reductions through generic competition and voluntary licenses is enormous. We’ve seen this successfully applied to other antiretrovirals.”
Despite these findings, Gilead Sciences, the company holding the patent for lenacapavir, has not yet agreed to voluntary licenses with the Medicines Patent Pool, a critical step toward enabling generic production and wider access.
The study concludes that with proper scale-up and competition among manufacturers, the price of lenacapavir could be reduced even further, making it a highly affordable option for HIV prevention. “At less than $100 per year, we could see a game-changing impact on the global fight against HIV,” the authors noted