The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that a groundbreaking medicine from Gilead Sciences should be used for HIV prevention, a move that was hailed by dozens of patient advocacy groups that are now urging CVS Health to reverse a recent decision not to cover the drug.
The move comes three months after the Food and Drug Administration approved lenacapavir, which is marketed as Yeztugo. The antiviral offers virtually complete protection against contracting HIV with just a single administration every six months and has been hailed as a tool that could bring the 45-year-old pandemic to heel. Indeed, in July, the World Health Organization made the same recommendation.
Drugs to prevent HIV, which are called PrEP for pre-exposure prophylaxis, have been around for a decade, but they generally require taking a daily pill and have not substantially curbed global infections. The Gilead injectable medicine costs $28,218 a year. By comparison, ViiV Healthcare, which is largely controlled by GSK, charges around $24,000 a year for its once-every-two-month drug called Apretude.
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