Lenacapavir

Lenacapavir, sold under the brand names Sunlenca, Yeztugo, and Yeytuo, among others, is an antiretroviral medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. It is taken by mouth or by subcutaneous injection. Lenacapavir is a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) capsid inhibitor. The most common side effects include reactions at the injection site and nausea. Lenacapavir was first authorized for medical use in the European Union in August 2022, in Canada in November 2022, and in the United States in December 2022. It is the first of a class of drugs called capsid inhibitors to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating HIV/AIDS. The US Food and Drug Administration considers it to be a first-in-class medication. In 2025, lenacapavir was approved for HIV prevention (PrEP) in the United States, the European Union and Canada and introduced in China. In 2026 it became available for PrEP as Yeytuo in Australia. India has sought a waiver to bring faster approval for its use as PrEP in the country based on existing evidence, and Indian generic manufacturers have entered into a voluntary licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to make the medication available at low cost to high priority countries in a "global access strategy".