People who have sex without protection have a higher risk of AIDS. There is definitely hesitation on hearing the name of this disease, because it is fatal. Now the AIDS-protecting drug ‘Lenacapvir’ is going to be available in India, two injections of which will keep you safe from AIDS for the whole year. The results of this medicine have been 100% in trials. In ABP Explainer, let us understand what is Lenacapvir and how it works and answers to 5 important questions…
Question 1- What is Lenacapvir and why is it being discussed?
answer- Lencapavir is about 30 years old drug, work on which was going on since the 1990s. But in 2006, Gelad Sciences started developing it officially. This medicine is used for the treatment and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus i.e. HIV AIDS. It blocks the capsid i.e. protein shell of the HIV-1 virus, through which the virus spreads. It weakens the virus and stops its spread.
- In June 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration approved giving doses of lencapavir twice a year to protect against HIV AIDS.
- In September 2025, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Hetero Drug said that the sale of this medicine could start in India by 2027.
- In October 2025, Gilead Sciences approved the sale of lencapavir in India.
The biggest reason why Lencapavir is being discussed is that it has proved to be a 100% game changer in the prevention of HIV. According to the report of Medical Dialogues, the third trial of Lenacapvir was conducted in November 2025, which passed all the parameters. That means any patient who was taking it could not catch HIV.
Earlier, two trials of Lenacapvir were conducted-
- Trial-1: In 2021, trials were conducted on 5,338 women and girls in South Africa and Uganda. Not a single one of those taking lenacapvir got infected.
- Trial-2: 3,273 occurred in men, transgender and non-binary people. Of these, 99.9% results were obtained, only 2 people were infected.
Question 2- How does Lenacapvir work to protect against HIV AIDS?
answer- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the HIV virus lives inside a protein shell called ‘capsid’. This capsid is made of the p24 protein of HIV-1, which protects the virus and controls its life cycle. Lencapavir is the world’s first ‘capsid inhibitor’ drug, which directly binds and destroys it. It works on all stages of HIV.
In simple words, Lenacapvir creates a wall in the body, due to which the virus can neither enter inside nor copy itself.
Till now this medicine was given in the form of tablets, but now it is also given in injection form. Injection is given twice in a year i.e. with a gap of 6-6 months. If there is a risk of HIV, the drug immediately destroys the capsid, due to which the virus does not spread.
Question 3- When will Lonacapvir be available in India and what will be the price?
answer- On October 2, 2024, Gilead Sciences granted royalty-free licenses to Indian companies Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Labs and Mylan. These companies will make medicines and sell them in 120 countries including India.
Lenacapvir will be launched after the approval of India’s drug regulator CDSCO. However, this may require local trials, due to which there may be a delay in the medicine coming into the market.
The price of Lenacapvir can be around Rs 3,300. First it will start in private hospitals and then it can be available free or subsidized in the NACO program.
Question 4- Can Lonacapvir also have side effects?
answer- According to medical experts, like every medicine, it too can have some side effects. The good thing is that most side effects are mild and subside with time. In clinical trials, 80-90% people did not have any serious problems and only 1-2% people discontinued the medicine. But if there are any side effects, you should immediately talk to the doctor.
Experts say that after the injection, there may be pain, swelling, redness, itching or marks at that place. Which gets cured on its own in 1-3 days. Apart from this, some people may have nausea, headache or stomach related problems. Which gets cured with time.
Question 5- How many HIV AIDS patients are there in India, what do the statistics say?
answer- According to the report of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), in 2019, about 23.48 lakh people were infected with HIV in India. Which increased to 25.44 lakh in 2023. That means there was an increase of 8% in patients in 4 years.
In 2019, 69,220 new patients were found, which decreased to 68,541 in 2023. That means there was a slight decrease of 1%. In 2019, there were about 190 new cases every day, which will come down to 187 in 2023.
There was the biggest reduction in deaths due to AIDS. In 2019, about 58 thousand people died, which came down to 35,866 in 2024. That means there was a decline of 38-40%.
There was success in controlling the epidemic from 2019 to 2023, but challenges remain.