3 ms·

Not a well written article in other ways too. What's the booster interval? What's the expected market coverage? How expensive is it, especially in poor count

Not a well written article in other ways too. What's the booster interval? What's the expected market coverage? How expensive is it, especially in poor countries where it's needed most? Are there challenges in transportation or storage that will limit its adoption? How does its efficacy as a preventative compare to its efficacy as a treatment (the reason it was approved in 2022)? Lots was left unsaid by this article. You'll note also, the sole source for the article is Gilead (mentioned at the end), the drug manufacturer.

freeone3000 1y ago
These are better covered by Gilead’s actual press releases, of which this is a very poor summary. For pricing, Gilead will likely carry over its policy for Truvada, by charging fairly high rates to western countries (with vouchers available) to subsidize its operations in Africa, where it will be provided cheaply or freely. (Disclosure: I’m an investor. I truly believe that if any company can be morally good, Gilead qualifies.) https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2024/gileads-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-demonstrated-100-efficacy-and-superiority-to-daily-truvada-for-hiv-prevention https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2024/gileads-twice-... https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-finalizes-agreement-with-the-global-fund-to-accelerate-access-to-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-for-hiv-prevention-for-up-to-two-million-people-in-primarily-low--and-lower-middle-income-countries https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-finaliz... https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-receives-positive-chmp-opinions-under-accelerated-review-from-european-medicines-agency-for-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-for-hiv-prevention https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-receive...
- haswell 1y ago
  > I truly believe that if any company can be morally good, Gilead qualifies. The primary reason Gilead exists in my memory is the headline years back about their exorbitantly high prices for a life saving hepatitis C drug and the resulting questions this was raising in congress ($84K for a 12 week supply) [0]. While it may be admirable that they are providing these drugs freely to countries in need, I’d be more hesitant to accept at face value the claim that US prices in particular are somehow reasonable on that basis. I also question the framing that those high prices are necessarily high. I’m less familiar with how they’ve priced things in recent years. - [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7529435 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7529435
  - wbl 1y ago
    Do you know how much a liver transplant is? That was the alternative.
  - freeone3000 1y ago
    They created a way to live with AIDS. They were the first. They did it in the 90s, where even working on this had significant stigma still. Friends are alive because of them.

freeone3000 1y ago

These are better covered by Gilead’s actual press releases, of which this is a very poor summary. For pricing, Gilead will likely carry over its policy for Truvada, by charging fairly high rates to western countries (with vouchers available) to subsidize its operations in Africa, where it will be provided cheaply or freely. (Disclosure: I’m an investor. I truly believe that if any company can be morally good, Gilead qualifies.) https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2024/gileads-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-demonstrated-100-efficacy-and-superiority-to-daily-truvada-for-hiv-prevention https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2024/gileads-twice-... https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-finalizes-agreement-with-the-global-fund-to-accelerate-access-to-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-for-hiv-prevention-for-up-to-two-million-people-in-primarily-low--and-lower-middle-income-countries https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-finaliz... https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-receives-positive-chmp-opinions-under-accelerated-review-from-european-medicines-agency-for-twice-yearly-lenacapavir-for-hiv-prevention https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2025/gilead-receive...

haswell 1y ago
> I truly believe that if any company can be morally good, Gilead qualifies. The primary reason Gilead exists in my memory is the headline years back about their exorbitantly high prices for a life saving hepatitis C drug and the resulting questions this was raising in congress ($84K for a 12 week supply) [0]. While it may be admirable that they are providing these drugs freely to countries in need, I’d be more hesitant to accept at face value the claim that US prices in particular are somehow reasonable on that basis. I also question the framing that those high prices are necessarily high. I’m less familiar with how they’ve priced things in recent years. - [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7529435 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7529435
- wbl 1y ago
  Do you know how much a liver transplant is? That was the alternative.
- freeone3000 1y ago
  They created a way to live with AIDS. They were the first. They did it in the 90s, where even working on this had significant stigma still. Friends are alive because of them.