The World Health Organization (WHO) On Thursday, the United States welcomed clinical trials that have managed to reduce infections to zero for the first time. HIV in a test group via an injectable drug, lenacapovir, and recommended that the drug be made accessible worldwide if future trials continue to show this “incredible effectiveness.”
“We are extremely pleased to learn the results of the clinical trials,” WHO technical expert on HIV/AIDS, Michelle Rodolph, highlighted at a press conference.
Lenacapovir, produced by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead, would only require two injections a year, and in trials it has achieved zero infections in a study group made up of cisgender women in Uganda and South Africa.
“We now look forward to the results of the trials in men, which will be released this year,” Rodolph stressed that Gilead has not yet announced the price of the drug or its arrival on the market, but recommended that it be launched as quickly as possible and at prices that are affordable for patients.
The WHO expert stressed that the response to HIV/AIDS has involved a policy of guaranteeing treatment at a global level through agreements with manufacturers, pressure on the market and large-scale purchases to keep prices low.
He also said that “competition through generic drugs can be encouraged by voluntary licensing, technology and other measures to avoid intellectual property barriers.”
“Everyone should have the right to access life-saving products, regardless of where they live,” The expert assured that the WHO has worked with pharmaceutical companies with products similar to the one now tested, such as GSK, to ensure that prices are not high, “and will do the same with Gilead.”
The lenacapavir trials, whose results were presented at the end of June, involved 5,300 cisgender adult and adolescent women who received either that drug or other Gilead preventives, but administered orally and daily, Descovy and Truvada.
In the lenacapovir group no infections were recorded, while in those focused on the other two brands the incidence of infections ranged from 1.69% and the 2.02%.
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Source: Gestion
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