Gilead Refuses to sell Doctors without Borders HIV Drug
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders) reported that drugmaker Gilead Sciences has refused to sell MSF supplies of lenacapavir, Gilead’s patented HIV prevention & treatment drug of transformative potential, for use in MSF’s humanitarian programs. According to an open letter MSF sent Gilead, the drugmaker cites its arrangement with the Global Fund to provide lenacapavir for two million people as “all the supply available to low- and middle-income countries.” MSF requests a written response from Gilead by April 13. Public Citizen has advocated for expanded lenacapavir access, including through improved pricing, funding and registration commitments, and expanded generic competition.
Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Director Peter Maybarduk issued the following statement:
“Refusing to make medicine available to Doctors Without Borders is cartoon villainy, but many lives are at stake, and no one is laughing.
“Gilead’s reported refusal to sell lenacapavir to MSF is hard to understand and impossible to justify, apart from Gilead’s wish to sell more to rich countries at high prices. Access to lenacapavir could help end AIDS, but not without much more ambition. An obvious first step is ensuring that medical humanitarian missions have all the supply they need to curb transmission and save lives. Count on Gilead to miss the obvious.
“Gilead spends a lot of money cultivating an image of allyship with communities affected by HIV. It’s very hard to take that image seriously today.
“Where Gilead fails to make its patented drug affordably available, countries have the right to overcome the patent monopoly with compulsory licenses that authorize generic competition. We will encourage countries to act.”