ViiV's last-minute terms for access to HIV drug slammed by MSF

Humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) revealed today that it has requested ViiV Healthcare to withdraw conditions in negotiations for a purchase agreement for an important HIV treatment.

These conditions are holding up procurement of the preventative HIV drug cabotegravir long-acting (CAB-LA) for key and vulnerable populations due to ViiV’s last-minute insertion of terms that are not acceptable in MSF purchase agreements.

This includes conditions that undermine supply security for patients because ViiV, which is majority-owned by UK pharma major GSK (LSE: GSK), retains the power to terminate the contract or refuse the purchase order without just reasons, and a confidentiality clause, akin to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), on the drug’s price and supply terms.