The year 2024 was full of scientific advances in various fields, from artificial intelligence to neurology, chemistry and astrophysics. However, for the prestigious magazine Sciencethe biggest advance of the year was the development of lenacapavir, a drug that prevents HIV infection with almost 100% effectiveness.
The results of lenacapavir were presented in June 2024 by the pharmaceutical giant Gilead. The news immediately resonated throughout the world. Two applications per year, each with a protection of six months, are sufficient to inhibit the capsid of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Late-stage clinical trials, conducted in 5,300 women in South Africa and Uganda, suggested 100% efficacy in preventing infection. Patients who received the drug remained HIV-free, in contrast to those who did not take it.
Gilead’s drug to prevent HIV surpasses any technological advance in 2024 in impact, says Science. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2023, 1.3 million people will contract HIV. This brought the total cases to at least 39.9 million people living with the infection worldwide. During that same year, 630 thousand deaths related to the virus were recorded. If the authorities fail to stop the infection rate, by 2039 people with HIV/AIDS could number 44.4 million.
“Lenacapavir is the first of a new family of antiretrovirals that inhibit the formation of the HIV capsid. It is a molecule that allows its oral administration (daily or weekly) or parenterally subcutaneously every six months. In 2024 it will be published a very important study that shows that the subcutaneous administration of lenacapavir every six months prevents possible HIV infection by 100% due to the impact that all this can have on control. of the HIV pandemic, without a doubt deserves to be considered the most important medical advance of this year,” Josep Mallolas, head of the HIV-AIDS unit at Hospital Clinic-Barcelona, told the portal. Science Media Center (SMC) Spain.
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Lenacapavir shows promise, but has a major barrier
Lenacapavir is a promising drug, but it has yet to be approved for prophylactic use, that is, to be taken before infection. Currently, it is only used to treat people with HIV. In 2025, Gilead could receive final approval for its drug. The director of UNAIDS admitted in a press conference that the company has “the opportunity to make history and move us closer to the end of the disease as a public health problem.”
However, civil organizations have already pointed out the main negative point of the advance: its prohibitive price. Gilead markets lenacapavir under the name Sunlenca at a price of $42,250 per year per patient. Although given prophylactically, the drug is not a vaccine because it does not create immunity. It is effective only if applied uninterruptedly every six months. Those interested in the treatment should consider an annual expense of $40,000. Some calculations by researchers suggest a final price of $40 if a generic version is produced and supplied to 10 million people each year.
The pharmaceutical company has announced that it is working to make its medication accessible, although it has not provided detailed information about it. “In light of the company’s ongoing commitment to communities affected by HIV, we have been developing a strategy to enable broad and sustainable access globally,” a Gilead spokesperson said. Experts on the subject estimate that they will be a type of “voluntary licenses” only available to low-income countries.
UNAIDS proposed the year 2030 as the deadline to end the HIV epidemic as a global threat. The infection rate and deaths related to the virus have decreased, but not enough, experts believe. Lenacapavir may upset that balance in the coming years, if it somehow manages to become cheaper.
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