Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with Unitaid on (a) licensing arrangements for lenacapavir and (b) potential steps to ensure the affordability of that treatment in (i) lower-income and (ii) middle-income countries.

The FCDO welcomes the extraordinary clinical trial results for lenacapavir, representing a significant breakthrough in HIV prevention and, potentially, treatment.

The UK is a long-standing supporter of market-shaping initiatives in low- and middle-income countries and we are having ongoing discussions with our global health partners, including UNITAID, on how to best facilitate widespread access to lenacapavir. This includes the UK supporting UNITAID's ongoing investment, in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, in two pathfinder programmes for long-acting HIV PrEP in Brazil and South Africa. This work will shorten the time for effective adoption of lenacapavir, once available.