Durban — The recent signing of sub-licence agreements to manufacture generic versions of cabotegravir long-acting (Cab-La), the injectable medicine for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), will contribute to reducing HIV transmission by providing people with a choice in their HIV prevention options.
This is said to assist especially Africa, which, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ Aids (UNAids), has a very high burden of HIV cases.
Deborah Waterhouse, the CEO of a specialist pharmaceutical company dealing with HIV medicines and research, ViiV Healthcare, said this was an important milestone towards enabling broad access to medicines in countries with the highest burden of new HIV cases.
She revealed that there were plans to manufacture the injections in South Africa. Waterhouse said the selected manufacturers, Aurobindo, Cipla and Viatris, would manufacture and supply the generic versions of cabotegravir LA for PrEP in 90 countries.
“Aurobindo and Viatris will manufacture in India; Cipla will manufacture in India and has plans to manufacture in South Africa as well.
“These three manufacturers were selected through an open call for Expressions of Interest, which included a blinded assessment of applications and an on-site technical assessment of short-listed applicants to enable selection of manufacturers with proven technical expertise, capacity, and readiness,” explained Waterhouse.
Compared to oral HIV prevention options, cabotegravir LA for PrEP was more complex to manufacture, she said. They were committed to supporting the manufacturers with technical know-how, to enable development and access as soon as possible.
The executive director of Medicine Patent Pool (MPP), Charles Gore, said they were ready to support the selected generic manufacturers who can also count on their long-standing partner ViiV Healthcare to support the development process.
“These three sub-licence agreements are the first that the MPP has signed for a long-acting medicine, and we are thrilled to be moving concretely into this space as these generic versions of cabotegravir LA for PrEP will contribute to broadening access to innovative long-acting prevention medicines in low- and middle-income countries,” he said.
The executive director of the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (Avac), Mitchell Warren said the agreement was an important step in the process to accelerate access and impact.
The manufacturers would need to work closely with the coalition to support access to long-acting medicine in the years to come and to build a platform for future long-acting options as well.
“Cab-Lafor PrEP is a proven HIV prevention method that must be widely accessible to people who need and want to use it.”
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