Dear subscriber,
The drug Lenacapavir has made a big difference to HIV prevention on the continent. The race to manufacture it locally is now on, and so is the responsibility to govern its safe rollout.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
Pharma manufacturers in Africa can now accelerate entry into generic production of Lenacapavir (LEN) after UK scientists developed a low-cost active pharmaceutical ingredient route. Gilead Sciences, the developer of this long-acting HIV prevention drug, will only manufacture 3 million doses by 2028 against an estimated 20 million demand.
While royalty-free licensing agreements with Gilead Sciences will enable the generic manufacturing and supply of LEN to Africa from 2027, the cost of producing its active pharma ingredient remains a barrier. South Africa is the only African country in talks with Gilead to manufacture LEN locally.
Access to LEN has already sparked debate after Doctors Without Borders revealed that Gilead had refused to sell it directly to them, except through the Global Fund. Gilead responded by increasing the doses from 2 million to 3 million for developing countries by 2028.
Our take: With over 17 million unmet demand for LEN doses in Africa and generic rollout expected from 2027, local pharma should move fast to secure the market share…Read more (2 min)
Lenacapavir is being rolled out across Africa as a breakthrough in HIV prevention. Kennedy Odokonyero, a specialist, examines whether current access strategies are adequately supported by pharmacovigilance systems, warning that rapid deployment without safety oversight risks repeating past mistakes seen during earlier drug rollouts.
“Access alone is not success. Without clear accountability for safety monitoring, we risk undermining the long-term impact of even the most promising innovations,” says Mr Odokonyero.
He argues that ambiguity between drugmaker Gilead Sciences, global health partners and national regulators is weakening ownership of safety systems. As the marketing authorisation holder, Gilead must lead pharmacovigilance efforts, supported by locally coordinated frameworks to ensure Lenacapavir is safely deployed.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
Three healthcare technology startups received a total of $1.8 million in funding in the month of March. This is the lowest monthly funding recorded since January 2026. In January, three companies raised a total of $3.5 million while in February, seven companies raised a total of $3.4 million to expand various digital health services.
Turaco received the highest amount of funding in this round with $1.3 million to expand its health insurance platform, followed by BioVana with $0.3 million for biobanking infrastructure and Revna Biosciences with $0.2 million for biomedical research and clinical services.
Two of these companies are based in West Africa: Revna Biosciences in Ghana and BioVana in Nigeria. Turaco is based in Kenya and represents East Africa.
Our take: March’s drop in healthcare funding signals a clear slowdown in investor momentum after a strong start to the year…Read more (2 min)
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Africa-Europe research partnership delivers first clinical trial for malaria in early pregnancy
Events
🗓️ Register for the Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences in Tanzania (May 4)
🗓️ Participate in World Conference on Medical Ethics in Lesotho (May 16)
🗓️ Join the 10th Healthcare Innovation Summit Africa in SA (May 27)
Jobs
🧑⚕️Be the International Consultant, TB/HIV at WHO (Lesotho)
🧑⚕️Apply to be the Sub-National Health Cluster Coordinator for WHO (Sudan)
🧑⚕️Join FHI 360 as a Technical Officer Polio (Uganda)
Various
💉 WHO highlights progress in Africa’s vaccination efforts
💉 Africa CDC and Dangote discuss health security and manufacturing
💉 Africa CDC secures over $250 million to advance health security
Seen on LinkedIn
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General at Africa CDC, says, “Malaria has taken enough from Africa. It is time for Africa to end malaria. A continent cannot claim health sovereignty while a preventable and treatable disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of its people every year.”