Gilead Sciences has announced a new agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to accelerate access to twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) across all PAHO Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Through PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds, the agreement establishes a coordinated regional pathway to expand access to long-acting HIV prevention and support country-led efforts toward adoption and implementation, as part of the broader efforts to end the epidemic across the region.
This marks a major milestone within Gilead’s broader global lenacapavir access strategy and establishes a regional pathway across all PAHO Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean to support broader country-led efforts toward adoption and implementation, combining PAHO’s regional coordination and procurement capabilities with Gilead’s access strategy to enable sustainable scale-up.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, new infections increased by 13% between 2010 and 2024 and there are gaps in PrEP utilisation.
The agreement provides a new access pathway for 14 countries outside Gilead’s lenacapavir voluntary licensing agreements, complementing existing generic access pathways across the region. Together, these tailored approaches help broaden access to lenacapavir for PrEP across Latin America and the Caribbean. These countries are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
“The agreement between Gilead and PAHO reflects our shared commitment to help countries move as quickly as possible from scientific innovation to real-world access to HIV prevention and public health impact,” said Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial & Corporate Affairs Officer, Gilead Sciences. “This agreement demonstrates how collaboration can help accelerate access, support country-led implementation and create the conditions for sustainable scale.”
Beyond the agreement, Gilead intends to continue exploring opportunities to work with PAHO to support country readiness and scale-up of long-acting HIV prevention access, consistent with country priorities and PAHO’s regional public health leadership through the Alliance for the Elimination of HIV in the Americas.
The Alliance brings governments, partners and communities together to help accelerate and sustain progress toward ending HIV as a public health issue, including by reaching populations facing the greatest barriers to effective prevention.
PAHO Director, Jarbas Barbosa, said: “The Americas today have increasingly effective tools to prevent HIV, but these innovations will have an impact only if they reach the people who need them. This initiative is an important step toward reducing gaps in access to lenacapavir, expanding the prevention options available to countries and advancing toward HIV elimination.”