By Janice Kew.
Aspen Pharmacare has secured rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise an experimental once-monthly HIV prevention pill for 129 low- and middle-income countries, including every African nation.
The South African drugmaker is one of three sub-Saharan African manufacturers licensed by Merck & Co, alongside companies in Kenya and Uganda.
Their inclusion from the outset marks a first for Merck’s voluntary-licensing programme for an HIV prevention medicine, bringing production closer to the regions expected to use the drug while supporting Africa’s push to expand pharmaceutical manufacturing. This is according to a Friday statement from the company, known as MSD outside the US and Canada.
Alimatravir is being developed as a once-monthly oral pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, offering an alternative to daily pills.
If ongoing late-stage clinical trials are successful and the drug wins regulatory approval, it would become the world’s first monthly oral HIV prevention medicine, a simpler regimen that could improve uptake and adherence, especially among young women and other people at high risk of infection.
The announcement comes as South Africa expands its HIV-prevention arsenal, after the introduction of the twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir.
Together the products represent a broader shift toward long-acting prevention options designed to make staying HIV-free easier.
South Africa remains at the epicentre of the global HIV epidemic, recording one of the world’s largest numbers of new infections each year despite decades of progress in treatment.
Expanding prevention options is widely seen as critical to reducing transmission.
Aspen said local production would strengthen healthcare security across the continent and reduce dependence on imported medicines when new prevention technologies become available.
Aspen’s shares have gained about 25% this year as investors bet on new manufacturing opportunities, including plans to produce generic versions of blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss medicines.
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