Transformative Partnership Enables 24 Million People Access HIV Treatment
By Sharon Atieno
A decade-long collaboration between Viiv Healthcare and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), and Viiv’s direct agreements with Aurobindo Pharma have enabled 24 million people to access dolutegravir (DTG), an antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV.
Through the partnership’s voluntary licensing agreements, more than one billion packs of generic DTG-based medicines have reached 128 low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).
With paediatric treatment lagging behind adults, the partnership has also played a pivotal role in the development and availability of age-appropriate DTG-based treatment options for children and infants.
The licensing agreement between Viiv and MPP as well as the public-private partnership between Viiv, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Unitaid providing technology transfer and regulatory support, generic dispersible tablet formulations of DTG have now been supplied to 95 LMICs for children weighing at least 3kgs.
In 2023, three generic dispersible formulations of paediatric ALD (abacavir, lamivudine, dolutegravir – ABC/3TC/DTG) received approval for infants from three months of age and weighing at least 6kgs.
This is an addition to the partnership programme that ViiV and CHAI drove with generic partners, in parallel with ViiV’s paediatric development programme for ABC/3TC/DTG (the first dispersible single-tablet regimen containing dolutegravir). The introduction of this newer combination in LMICs will further support the delivery of HIV medication to young children and address unmet needs by offering a reduced pill burden.
“We are proud to see that public health-oriented voluntary licensing has had a tangible impact on the lives of the people we serve, enabling access to affordable versions of innovative HIV treatments in LMICs,” said Charles Gore, MPP Executive Director.
“We commend ViiV Healthcare for their huge commitment, allowing our partnership to demonstrate that voluntary licensing can serve as a sustainable strategy to enhance affordable production and distribution for more equitable access to essential medicines in underserved territories.”
Plans for the partnership include furthering access to innovative HIV prevention. The signing of a new license agreement in 2022 marked a significant step forward in driving access to cabotegravir long-acting for PrEP, and ViiV is supporting all generic sublicensees with technical support and know-how to expedite product development and enable access to this novel prevention tool for people in LMICs.
According to Deborah Waterhouse, CEO Viiv Healthcare, the scale and impact of the 10-year collaboration is a testament to the power of partnership in advancing global health.
“We are proud to have played a pivotal role in enabling 24 million people living with HIV access affordable dolutegravir-based treatments, and we look forward to our continued collaboration with MPP and generic partners as we broaden the focus to include innovative preventative HIV medicines,” Waterhouse said.