Urgent Call for Lenacapavir in Latin America: Could Slash HIV Transmission by 68%!

MEXICO CITY (apro) – Making Lenacapavir, the most innovative antiretroviral medication for HIV prevention, affordable could decrease virus transmission by up to 68% in Latin America, according to a study by the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico (INSP).

The study, supported by the Institute for Global Public Health at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), indicates that up to 28,000 new HIV infections could be prevented in the region by 2030.

It also presents the drug as a potentially revolutionary tool in the regional HIV response.

The findings were revealed on Monday, October 20, at the forum “Increasing Access to Lenacapavir in Latin America”. The report discusses the potential impact of expanding access to this long-acting injectable antiretroviral in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.

During the forum, the exclusion of Latin American countries from a global agreement was discussed. This deal was announced by Gilead Sciences, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

According to speakers, the agreement set a price of $40 per person per year for more than 100 countries but excluded countries like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Guatemala.

Exclusion and Opportunities

According to Luz Marina Umbasia Bernal, an advisor at Public Citizen, “access to Lenacapavir should not be a privilege; it is a matter of health justice.”

She criticized that Gilead’s voluntary licenses exclude upper-middle-income countries, although these countries account for over 80% of new HIV infections in Latin America.

Tonatiuh Barrientos, the Director of Research at INSP, outlined two scenarios that could occur in the region with access to the antiretroviral:

• With partial coverage, new infections could be reduced by 32%.
• With optimal coverage and high adherence, a reduction of 68% could be achieved.

“In human terms, we are talking about 40,000 fewer infections in just five years,” he estimated.

Miguel Pedrola, Scientific Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at AHF, recalled the results of the international clinical trials PURPOSE 1 and 2, conducted in South Africa, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico:

“They demonstrated protection levels above 95%, with no infections reported in high-vulnerability groups… Lenacapavir operates in three phases of the virus cycle. It is the first of its kind. Its efficacy is not in doubt: what is lacking is political will and real access,” he emphasized.

IMSS Evaluates Strategies

Georgina Morales, a representative of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), announced that Mexico is already evaluating new combined prevention strategies, and that the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) has authorized study protocols to explore the viability of Lenacapavir.

Meanwhile, Jorge Saavedra, Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute, directly addressed the governments of the region:

“While in the United States, the treatment costs over $28,000 per year, in Latin America it remains simply inaccessible. Although Gilead and WHO have announced reduced prices, control remains in the hands of the pharmaceutical company. Africa negotiated as a bloc and gained access. Latin America needs to do the same.”

He also warned about “condom fatigue” and low adherence to daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which makes it urgent to offer more practical and widely accepted options.

He stressed that the use of Lenacapavir “could change the paradigm,” but the decision must come from the governments of the region themselves.