Gilead's HIV Breakthrough

 

“Good news the world can use: The Food and Drug Administration last week approved Gilead Science's twice-a-year shot that is nearly 100% effective in preventing HIV transmission. The breakthrough cracks open the door to ending the HIV pandemic.

 

HIV treatments have come a long way over the last four decades thanks to U.S. pharmaceutical innovation that has built on government-funded research. Gilead's daily antiviral pills can prevent HIV transmission and slow AIDS. While an HIV vaccine remains the Holy Grail, Gilead's new long-lasting injection, lenacapavir, is the next best thing.

 

Gilead tested lenacapavir -- which was approved by the FDA in 2022 as a treatment for patients with drug-resistant HIV -- in two clinical trials against its daily prophylactic pills. Lenacapavir was 100% effective in preventing HIV in one trial and 96% in the other. While Gilead's pills are highly effective at preventing HIV, many people forget to take them daily.

 

Lenacapavir built on research funded by the National Institutes of Health in the 1980s and '90s on viral proteins. Gilead in the 2000s took the research out of the lab by developing lenacapavir, which binds to key HIV proteins and interferes with several steps in the virus's life cycle. The next step is figuring out how to extend lenacapavir's duration.

 

Even Big Pharma's critics are hailing Gilead's breakthrough drug, though they forget that innovation doesn't come cheap. Profits from Gilead's other HIV drugs have helped fund lenacapavir's development and expensive clinical trials.

Gilead has signed royalty-free licensing agreements that will allow six generic manufacturers to sell the drug in more than 120 lower-income countries. It will also manufacture enough shots for two million people in those countries at no profit until the generics are available.

Remember this the next time you hear Democrats and Republicans assail "greedy" Big Pharma.” [1]

 

1. Gilead's HIV Breakthrough. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 24 June 2025: A18.