What if we had the solution to eradicating the AIDS epidemic worldwide? Currently, 40 million people are living with HIV. By 2023, 600,000 people will have died from the AIDS virus. This figure has halved compared to 2010, but the number of patients is still too high. But it could be that this new preventive treatment holds promise. It has just been approved in the United States and could soon be approved in France.
A promising preventive treatment to wipe out AIDS
There are treatments available to fight the AIDS virus, but for those affected, this requires taking a pill every day. However, a new preventive treatment is proving promising and will soon be approved in the United States. Its name? Yeztugo.
Produced by the American laboratory Gilead, this revolutionary drug will drastically improve the treatment of patients. Indeed, unlike other existing treatments known as "pre-exposure prophylaxis" or "PrEP" which have been around for over ten years, Yeztugo, developed from the molecule called lenacapavir, only requires two injections per year.
Last summer, clinical trials were conducted and revealed a 100% success rate. For AIDS specialists, Yeztugo "offers a potentially tremendous opportunity to transform the impact of HIV programs," as John Nkengasong, global AIDS coordinator in the United States, explained.
Yeztugo, the solution to AIDS at an exorbitant price
This highly anticipated drug was approved in the United States this Wednesday, as announced by the laboratory that develops it. According to information from Gilead, the drug can be taken by adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg and is available to those who "need or wish to benefit from PrEP." For the president of the American laboratory, the approval by the American authorities marks "a historic day in the fight against HIV." For the head of UNAIDS, this preventive treatment simply signifies "the end of AIDS."
However, it is important to emphasize that while Yeztugo gives hope to AIDS patients, it may be very difficult to benefit from it if there is no support in place. Indeed, according to some analysts, when it is launched across the Atlantic, this treatment could be sold for $25,000 per year. For the moment, the laboratory has not communicated its price.
Note that Yeztugo could also be authorized in France and that some are demanding that the laboratory grant licenses to manufacture generic versions of this drug in order to make it accessible to the poorest countries.
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