Madagascar selected for preventive HIV lenacapavir
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Midi Madagasikara
Illustrative image · https://kaboompics.com/ · Pexels · Licence PexelsMadagascar is among 120 low- and middle-income countries selected to receive generic lenacapavir, an HIV prevention administered through two injections a year. The treatment is expected to cost $40 per person annually, with first deliveries due by the end of 2026, according to Midi Madagasikara.
Madagascar is among the 120 priority low- and middle-income countries set to receive generic lenacapavir, a preventive HIV treatment administered through two subcutaneous injections a year, according to Midi Madagasikara. Its effectiveness is close to 100%, based on data reported by the newspaper.
The medicine will be manufactured by Indian pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories under a licensing agreement with Gilead and sold for $40 per person per year in the countries concerned. The first deliveries are expected by the end of 2026, before a large-scale rollout in 2027.
Nearly 150,000 people in Madagascar are living with HIV, according to the National Programme to Combat STIs, HIV and AIDS. Last year, 15,800 new cases were detected after 592,000 tests were carried out in 114 districts.
The arrival of the generic comes two days after the FDA authorised a generic preventive HIV injection, announced on 2 November. Unitaid, the Global Fund, the Gates Foundation and health authorities are working to introduce it among populations far from healthcare systems.
