‘Monumental’ HIV shot could be coming to Canada. What we know
Global News
Health-care experts and advocates say Gilead's HIV prevention shot could be a "wonder drug," but there is concerns about accessiblity.
A twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV being dubbed a “wonder drug” by some could be coming to Canada as soon as next year, though the company behind it says it could still take some time before the general population could access it.
Gilead Canada confirmed to Global News that it had submitted lenacapavir for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use as a new injectable drug to Health Canada in April of this year and it had been accepted by the agency for review this month.
It said it anticipates the evaluation of the drug would be complete sometime in mid-2026.
Global News has inquired with Health Canada about potential approval time as well as a timeline for the approval process.
Canadian health-care experts and advocates for HIV prevention say the Gilead drug is a “monumental advance.”
“It’s absolutely a monumental advance in prevention,” said Peter Newman, a University of Toronto social work professor, whose work includes HIV prevention.
“These kinds of things could really help to get it out there quicker and it’s certainly cost-effective in the long run because you’re going to prevent a lot of cases of new HIV.”
The drug nearly eliminated new infections in two groundbreaking studies of people at high risk, better than the daily preventative pills people can forget to take, prompting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve it in that country last week.
