Pressure is mounting on pharmaceutical company Gilead to make its new HIV drug, lenacapavir, more accessible. On September 24, activists from ACT UP London staged a protest in front of Gilead’s offices, delivering a letter demanding that the company allow generic production of the drug to ensure fair access.
Protesters addressed the rising HIV infection rates in some parts of the world, arguing that a generically produced, widely available version of lenacapavir could play a critical role in reversing this trend. The drug could be produced for as little as $40 per person annually while still ensuring a profit, but Gilead has chosen to sell it at $40,000 per year and more.
Read more: Public Pharma vs. abusive prices: the case of the latest HIV-prevention drug
The protest saw participation from people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as those who lost friends and family members to the virus. “To think there’s now a medicine that could prevent all that suffering, yet it’s so overpriced, shows Big Pharma’s greed has no empathy or compassion,” said Andria Efthimiou-Mordaunt, widow of HIV/AIDS activist John Mordaunt.
Lenacapavir has shown remarkable efficacy in preventing HIV infection, prompting global mobilization to ensure the drug reaches those most in need, particularly in the Global South. Hailed by some as the closest thing the world has seen to an HIV vaccine, the drug is considered a potential game-changer in the fight against the virus.
However, Big Pharma remains a significant barrier to making this breakthrough widely available. “Who’s afraid of a world without HIV and AIDS? Gilead is! Because if we finally manage to end AIDS, they won’t make millions in profit anymore,” said Dan Glass of ACT UP London during the protest.
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