Six-monthly injectable lenacapavir (LEN) is scaling faster than any previous PrEP product. Just 11 months after its first regulatory approval from the US FDA, eight African countries — Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — are already delivering LEN through their national PrEP programmes. South Africa is due to launch next month, along with 15 more countries planning to launch between June 2026 and early 2027.
This momentum is extraordinary. But it also makes the access challenge impossible to ignore.
Early reports suggest demand for LEN is already far exceeding supply. The recent announcement from the Global Fund and PEPFAR to increase available LEN supply to three million person years is important and welcome, but we know it still will not be enough to meet demand. And countries need more than a breakthrough product. They need coordination, shared intelligence, and practical support to introduce it well and equitably.
This is the moment Access Bridge was created for.
Access Bridge is an independent, Africa-anchored organization working to accelerate timely, sustainable, and equitable access to HIV prevention and related health products. We track product introduction and market trends, connect governments, implementers, advocates, funders, and manufacturers, and translate real-world learning into action.
We are Africa-centred because the future of HIV prevention must be shaped by the countries and communities driving delivery, uptake, and accountability. For LEN, and for what comes next, that work has never mattered more.
With thanks to AVAC for partnership and collaboration.
