Thousands of Kenyans are set for a reprieve after the US authorities on Wednesday approved an injection vaccine for preventing HIV and AIDs disease.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead Sciences' new drug, lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection, for preventing HIV infection in adults and adolescents.
The approved drug, Lenacapavir, developed by Gilead Sciences, will be marketed under the brand name Yeztugo.
It is a twice-yearly injection designed to prevent HIV infection in both adults and adolescents, offering an alternative to daily oral pills.
Lenacapavir belongs to a new class of antiretrovirals known as capsid inhibitors. In large-scale clinical trials conducted last year, the drug demonstrated nearly 100 per cent effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission, raising hopes for a breakthrough in curbing the virus’s spread.
Kenya, which ranks seventh globally in HIV burden with an estimated 1.4 million people living with the virus, is expected to be among the key beneficiaries if access to the drug is expanded to low- and middle-income countries.
The approval comes at a critical time as Kenya works to maintain its momentum in HIV response, having already surpassed the UNAIDS 95-95-95 treatment targets and achieved a 28 per cent reduction in new infections over the past decade.
Gilead was initially under pressure from activists and advocates to license its experimental outcomes to six generic drug manufacturers.
However, it later bowed to the pressure. Kenya, alongside other countries such as South Africa and Nigeria, is among the 18 nations Gilead has prioritised for early access to lenacapavir.
For those who have failed other treatments, this new option could provide a much-needed lifeline. WHO estimates that nearly 40 million people globally are living with HIV, making access to affordable treatments and prevention methods more crucial than ever.
Meanwhile, Kenya has been among the countries that have suffered a shortage of HIV life-saving drugs precipitated by a decision by US President Donald Trump to pause US foreign aid in January.
Since the start of the pandemic in the 1980s, 40.4 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses, according to USAID.
