WASHINGTON, September 15 — The Pan American Health Organization announced a new pathway on Tuesday that will let 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean buy lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable HIV prevention medicine, through its Regional Revolving Funds. The agreement with Gilead Sciences, announced from PAHO headquarters in Washington, D.C., opens procurement to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Procurement remains subject to each country’s applicable national regulatory and programmatic processes.
Lenacapavir is used as pre-exposure prophylaxis and is given by injection twice a year. The World Health Organization recommended it in 2025 as an additional HIV prevention option, following clinical trials that demonstrated almost 100% efficacy in preventing HIV infection.
The twice-yearly dosing schedule offers an alternative for people who may face challenges with more frequent prevention regimens.
Why the region needs more options
PAHO estimates that approximately 140,000 new HIV infections occur each year in Latin America and the Caribbean. That figure, the agency says, underscores the need to expand access to prevention options that are both effective and acceptable to the people who would use them. The new pathway complements voluntary licensing agreements that already cover 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, part of a broader global access framework covering 120 countries worldwide.
Together, PAHO says, the two mechanisms give countries in the region complementary routes to obtain lenacapavir. PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds pool demand and support efficient and reliable procurement for Member States under favorable conditions.
Countries will be able to procure the medicine through the funds’ established procedures.
Local production still under development
As part of the initiative, Gilead has committed to advance a technology-transfer process in Brazil aimed at facilitating local production of lenacapavir in the future. That process is still under development, and specific timelines and mechanisms have yet to be defined. In the longer term, increased regional production capacity could contribute to greater availability of lenacapavir and more sustainable procurement conditions.
PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said the Americas have increasingly effective tools to prevent HIV, but that these innovations will have an impact only if they reach the people who need them. He described the initiative as an important step toward reducing gaps in access to lenacapavir, expanding the prevention options available to countries and advancing efforts to end HIV as a public health problem.
Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial & Corporate Affairs Officer at Gilead Sciences, said the agreement reflects a shared commitment to help countries move as quickly as possible from scientific innovation to real-world access to HIV prevention and public health impact. She said strategic partnerships are essential to the ambition to help end the HIV epidemic, and that the agreement demonstrates how collaboration between governments, public health organizations and industry can expand access, accelerate implementation and create the conditions for sustainable scale.
What to watch next
The introduction of lenacapavir into national HIV programmes will take place progressively. It will depend on national regulatory processes, clinical protocols, health-worker training and programmatic planning. PAHO is providing technical cooperation to support countries with needs assessment and quantification, guideline development, and monitoring.
The encouraging part is that a twice-yearly injectable option is now moving through a regional procurement route rather than remaining only a scientific milestone. How quickly the 14 eligible countries complete their regulatory and programmatic steps, and whether the Brazil technology-transfer process produces a defined timeline, will shape how far this reaches. Consult your doctor for medical advice.
