South African lab to produce new HIV treatment in Africa: Unitaid

Vaccination healthcare concept. Hands of doctor or nurse in medical gloves injecting a shot of vaccine to a man patient

NAIROBI, Kenya - A South African laboratory will produce a generic version of a new HIV treatment, in a major step forward for medical sovereignty in Africa, the international health agency Unitaid said on Tuesday.

Lenacapavir, developed by the US pharmaceutical company Gilead, is an injectable HIV treatment that only needs to be administered twice a year.

According to experts, that represents a huge advance compared with treatments that require taking a tablet every day, especially for women, who can be stigmatised.

Studies show that lenacapavir reduces the risk of HIV transmission by 99.9 percent.

“Together with Gilead, we have an agreement with the government of South Africa for this drug to be produced in South Africa as soon as possible,” Unitaid executive director Philippe Duneton said.

Unitaid works to fight diseases in poor countries at lower cost.

Duneton, speaking at a Franco-African economic summit in Nairobi, called the move “a very important step” as investment in regional production of medicines in Africa was “absolutely essential.”

The issue came to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic, when developed countries largely kept vaccine doses for themselves.

Duneton told AFP that a “preliminary agreement” with Gilead will be finalised once South African laboratories have been identified to manufacture a generic version of lenacapavir.

A call for tenders has already been launched.

“I have every confidence in what is going to happen. It takes months of discussions. We have been talking for years,” he told AFP.

Once the South African laboratory has been chosen, Unitaid hopes that actual production will take “one to two years,” he added.

“When there are tensions, competition or disruptions in supply chains, it’s better to have medicines produced close to home.

“That holds true everywhere, in Europe as well as in Africa.”