The Medicines Patent Pool today announced a new licence with Gilead Sciences for a medicine which in combination with others would offer a once-daily, single-tablet HIV treatment.
According to an MPP press release, bictegravir is under review in the United States and the European Union. The licence allows manufacturers to develop and sell generic medicines which include bictegravir. Bictegravir is currently being studied as part of a fixed-dose combination, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
If approved in the US, the MPP release says, some 116 low and middle-income countries would benefit from the Gilead licensing agreement.
“Bictegravir-containing combinations could offer improved, simplified treatment options, crucial for people living in resource-limited settings,” MPP Executive Director Greg Perry said in the release.
The release says bictegravir can be combined with emtricitabine and enofovir alafenamide, also licensed to the MPP. The MPP and Gilead are also expanding the geographic scope of licences on other HIV products, now including Belarus, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Ukraine, the release said.