Currently, there are 1.7 million children living with HIV who are under the age of 15 and only 54% of these children have access to treatment.¹ Major obstacles to treatment persist, including: the availability of HIV testing and diagnosis suitable for children, the failure to reduce vertical HIV transmission, slow initiation of treatment and poor availability of optimised paediatric antiretroviral formulations. A fragmented paediatric HIV market hinders the introduction and uptake of new formulations, therefore, drug research and development for children living with HIV continues to lags considerably behind advances in adult treatment.² Insufficient market incentives and technical complexity in the manufacturing process also means that paediatric drug development does not get the priority it deserves.

Since 2018, ViiV Healthcare* has collaborated with two global health organisations – the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Unitaid (an UN-backed global health initiative) – as well as two generic manufacturers – Mylan (now a subsidiary of the Viatris group) and Macleods. This collaboration has worked to accelerate generic development and registration of an antiretroviral medicine; (DTG) through the transfer of dispersible tablet technology. This initiative provides Mylan and Macleods with a financial incentive award from Unitaid via CHAI, as well as the technical expertise provided by ViiV Healthcare. As of March 2022, 9 out of 10 of the countries with the highest incidence of paediatric HIV are being supplied with generic paediatric DTG dispersible tablets.³

Following the success of this public-private partnership, work is already underway to accelerate generic development and registration of an additional DTG-based treatment. This is comprised of the WHO-recommended fixed dose combination dispersible tablet of generic DTG with abacavir and lamivudine (ALD).

These partnership programmes build on ViiV Healthcare’s work to enable generic pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and sell generic versions of the medicine in resource-limited settings, through existing royalty-free licensing agreements that have been granted both directly and via the Medicines Patent Pool. The voluntary licence agreements enable generic manufacturers to develop paediatric formulations in 121 countries, covering 99% of children living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries.⁴

*ViiV Healthcare is the only global biopharmaceutical company 100% focused on combating, preventing, and ultimately curing HIV and ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Our shared purpose is to unite science, talent, and technology, to get ahead of a leading chronic and infectious disease for greater health impact. We were established in November 2009, through a science-led partnership between GSK (our majority shareholder) and Pfizer; with Shionogi joining in 2012. We are dedicated to researching and delivering innovative HIV medicines and solutions with an ambition to make HIV a smaller part of people’s lives. In addition, we work in solidarity with HIV communities across the globe, this includes people living with HIV and diverse communities vulnerable to HIV transmission. We collaborate to build multisector partnerships which seek to accelerate progress aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to leave no person living with HIV behind.