HIV self-test prices to be halved in 135 countries after Viatris deal

POORER countries are set to see their access to HIV selftests increase dramatically following a deal to slash prices in half and boost production, Unitaid said on April 28.

The international health agency said it had closed a deal with US-based global healthcare company Viatris Inc that will see blood-based HIV selftests made available for under $2 across 135 low- and middleincome countries.

HIV self-tests are seen as vital tools to help people more easily discover their status and move towards the treatment they need, and thus also to reducing the HIV burden globally.

This is particularly relevant in poorer countries, where concerns around stigma and difficulties accessing healthcare can create significant barriers, said Unitaid, which works on innovations on major diseases.

Unitaid spokesman Herve Verhoosel said in a statement: “Access to self-tests has been recognised as a key factor in meeting the global goal of 90 per cent of people knowing their HIV status.”

In just the past six years, that rate has nearly doubled, from 45 to 81 per cent, he said.

But achieving broader testing has been hampered by the fact that the market for HIV selftests in low- and middle-income countries has been dominated by a single affordable oral HIV test, the OraSure.

That test is sold at cost in a limited number of poorer countries for $2, but elsewhere the price is higher, and other options have cost significantly more.

Giving countries more choice when it comes to self-tests, Verhoosel said, would make “it easier to acquire the products and embed them in health systems, with the ultimate aim of helping the eight million people estimated to be unaware of their HIV status know they are infected and get treatment”.