The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
Injectable HIV medicines deal to provide access to generic lifesaver in developing nations
A landmark agreement has been reached allowing for the production of low-cost, injectable HIV medicines in some 90 developing countries where more the majority of infections occur, UNITAID said on Friday.
Selected manufacturers will be able to develop, manufacture and supply lower-cost generic versions of long-acting Cabotegravir (CAB-LA), in line with a deal reached with pharmaceutical firm ViiV Healthcare (ViiV).
“The Medicines Patent Pool, a structure created and largely funded by UNITAID, has reached a voluntary licensing agreement for patents relating to Cabotegravir long-acting, an injectable form of HIV prevention, or PrEP, to generic formulations of the product in least-developed, low-income, lower-middle income and sub-Saharan African countries,” said UNITAID spokesperson Hervé Verhoosel.
The deal is significant because Cabotegravir injections are only needed once every few months. Increasing its supply at a cost that is affordable to low-income countries could help to overcome the stigma that’s associated with taking daily HIV pills - and the burden of having to remember to take them.
“In the 90 countries that we are talking about, 80 countries are royalty-free, meaning that ViiV won’t ask for any royalty on the product and for 10 of those countries, ViiV is asking for a smaller-than-usual royalty,” Mr. Verhoosel explained.
The agreement comes after UNITAID-led discussions began in May this year with ViiV, a subsidiary of pharma giant GlaxoSmithkline. It is only seven months since Cabotegravir LA received regulatory approval.
But the process of selecting the companies that will develop, manufacture and supply generic versions of Cabotegravir will take much longer.
“This product will not be there for everybody, that’s first for people who are there the most at risk,” said Mr. Verhoosel, who noted that the cost of the medicine in the US when it comes onstream there “really soon”, was likely to be around $20,000. “That’s a lot of money; that’s why that product cannot be used in low and middle-income countries.”
According to UNITAID, the deal offers the possibility of making the injectable prophylactic medicine available in 90 countries where more than 70 per cent of all new HIV infections occurred in 2020.
Up to three drug manufacturers will be licensed to develop the product on a generic basis to avoid supply and distribution issues. “That’s done in a way that we’re sure (that) one, it’s easy for logistics, two…availability, and three, of course, that it will help to bring the cost of the generic version down”, said Mr. Verhoosel.
ends
STORY: Injectable HIV Prevention Medicines Deal - UNITAID
TRT: 02’05”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: Friday 29 July 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with panel of speakers, journalists, TV camera on tripod.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Hervé Verhoosel, UNITAID: “The Medicines Patent Pool, a structure created and largely funded by UNITAID, has reached a voluntary licensing agreement for patents relating to cabotegravir long-acting, an injectable form of HIV prevention, or PrEP, to generic formulations of the product in least-developed, low-income, lower-middle income and sub-Saharan African countries.”
- Medium shot, lateral, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Hervé Verhoosel, UNITAID: “In the 90 countries that we are talking about, 80 countries are royalty-free, meaning that ViiV (ViiV Healthcare) don’t ask any royalty on the product and for 10 of those countries ViiV is asking for a smaller-than-usual royalty.”
- Wide shot, journalists, TV camera, light panel.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Hervé Verhoosel, UNITAID: “This product will not be there for everybody, that’s first for people who are there the most at risk. That’s a product that’s available in the US, and the price of that product for one year in the US for example is approximately 20,000 US dollars, and that’s a lot of money; that’s why that product cannot be used in low and middle-income countries.”
- Medium shot, journalists seated at tables, TV camera.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Hervé Verhoosel, UNITAID: “This licence will actually give the option to three different generic manufacturers to develop the product on a generic base. That means that the price that those companies will have we don’t know yet, but that will not only be one company, that will be three different companies and that’s done in a way that we’re sure one, that it’s easy for logistics, two, that ensuring availability, and three, of course, that it will help to bring the cost of the generic version down.”
- Medium shot, journalists.
- Wide shot, journalists, TV camera and light panel.
- Medium shot, journalist.
- Medium shot, journalists, side shot.
Similar Stories
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.