Guernsey sexual health plan to include remote consultations
Dr Nicola Brink, director of public health, said: "Guernsey is ahead of many countries in already having a sexual and reproductive health strategy in place. "This refresh updates our current strategy to account for new data and emerging trends."Deputy Al Brouard, president of the committee for health and social care, said: "We need to continually work towards improving sexual and reproductive health services and create an environment where all people can enjoy good sexual and reproductive health."
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The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
EU regulator approves injectable HIV drug that experts say could help stop transmission
The European Medicines Agency has recommended authorizing a twice-yearly injectable drug aimed at preventing HIV, which scientists say could help end the virus' transmission. In a statement on Friday, the EU drug regulator said its evaluations of lenacapavir, sold as Yeytuo in Europe by Gilead Sciences, showed the drug is 'highly effective' and 'considered to be of major public health interest.' Once the regulator's guidance is accepted by the European Commission, the authorization is valid in all 27 EU member countries as well as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Last year, studies suggested that lenacapavir, already used to treat people with HIV, was nearly 100% effective in stopping transmission in both women and men. Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency, has said the drug 'could change the trajectory of the HIV epidemic' if it is made available to everyone who needs it. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized lenacapavir to prevent HIV. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization recommended countries offer the drug as an additional option to people at risk of the virus. Condoms help guard against HIV infection if used properly. Other medication aimed at preventing HIV include daily pills that people can take and another injectable drug called cabotegravir, which is given every two months. Lenacapavir's six-month protection makes it the longest-lasting type, an option that could attract people wary of more visits to health clinics or stigma from taking daily pills. Critics have raised concerns, however, that lenacapavir may not be made widely enough available to stop global outbreaks of HIV. Drugmaker Gilead has said it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates — mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. But it has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing, sparking concern the world is missing a critical opportunity to stop the disease. Last year, there were about 630,000 AIDS deaths worldwide and more than 40 million people are estimated to have HIV, according to UNAIDS. UNAIDS chief Byanyima has previously suggested the U.S. President Donald Trump make a deal with Gilead to produce and license its 'magical' prevention drug lenacapavir across the world to the millions of people who need it. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Breakingviews - GSK revenue hole raises chances of risky M&A move
DUBLIN, July 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Emma Walmsley, the boss of 57-billion-pound ($77 billion) GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab, has a conspicuously large financial target: generating over 40 billion pounds of revenue by 2031, opens new tab. Right now, she's well behind pace. Given the drugmaker's track record of buying growth, M&A seems like a likely option to make up for lost time. Shareholders will have to be on the lookout for GSK potentially overpaying. Since Walmsley took the helm of the maker of vaccines and HIV treatments in 2017, opens new tab, the company's forward earnings multiple has collapsed from over 12 to less than eight. Spinning off consumer-focused unit Haleon (HLN.L), opens new tab in 2022, opens new tab has only shone a light on the core pharmaceutical group's problems. Analysts currently reckon GSK will rake in just 34 billion pounds of revenue in 2031, according to forecasts gathered by Visible Alpha, which is 15% less than Walmsley's minimum ambition. One reason is that vaccines, which made up nearly a third of sales in 2024, are potentially under threat from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime sceptic of immunisations. Another concern is that Dolutegravir, GSK's star HIV treatment which produced nearly 20% of the company's 31 billion pounds of revenue last year, will lose some patent protection from 2028 in the key U.S. market. Walmsley has claimed that she can replenish the shortfall with future sales from many of the company's 14, opens new tab promising drugs under development. But despite GSK delivering 13 positive late-stage drug trials last year, investors seem more focused on the disappointments. Last week, the group's shares fell nearly 5% after its blood cancer medication Blenrep faced a regulatory setback on safety concerns in the U.S. That all explains the appeal of M&A. Since spinning off Haleon, Walmsley has committed over 6 billion pounds to companies that specialise in everything from vaccines to treatments for cancer, lung and liver disorders. She has more firepower. The company will end 2025 with 12.9 billion pounds of net debt, analysts reckon, which is not much more than the average forecast for 11 billion pounds of EBITDA this year, based on estimates collated by Visible Alpha. One common rule of thumb is that public-market investors only start getting antsy when leverage approaches 3 times EBITDA, implying that Walmsley has 20 billion pounds of headroom for M&A. There are several possible targets. GSK could buy out the 89% of $1.3-billion Wave Life Sciences (WVE.O), opens new tab that it doesn't already own. Another option might be $4 billion obesity drug-focused biotech Viking Therapeutics (VKTX.O), opens new tab, which could bring a foothold in a red-hot market. The risk, however, is that any sellers see GSK as a desperate bidder, leading to a higher asking price. Paying over the odds simply to fill a revenue hole would destroy shareholder value, but it wouldn't be unprecedented in the pharma sector. In GSK's case, it would make an already unhealthy valuation even sicklier. Walmsley's investors will be on high alert. Follow Aimee Donnellan on LinkedIn, opens new tab.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
EU regulator backs Gilead's twice-yearly injection for HIV prevention
July 25 (Reuters) - The European Union's drugs regulator has recommended approval of Gilead Sciences' (GILD.O), opens new tab lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection, for preventing HIV infection in adults and adolescents, the drugmaker said on Friday. The backing could make it the EU's first twice-yearly HIV prevention option to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults and adolescents. Lenacapavir offers a long-acting alternative to daily oral pills and other shorter-acting options, aiding critical response to the disease especially among those who struggle with daily adherence, stigma, or access to healthcare. The decision comes more than a month after the treatment received regulatory approval in the U.S., where it is branded as Yeztugo. The World Health Organization recommended the treatment earlier this month as a tool to prevent HIV infection. Any recommendation by the European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee has to be formally approved by the European Commission, which usually follows the regulator's decision. The European Commission's decision on the drug is expected later this year, the company said. If approved,lenacapavir would be granted one additional year of market exclusivity in the EU, and it would be branded as Yeytuo, Gilead said. Lenacapavir, part of a class of drugs known as capsid inhibitors, proved nearly 100% effective at preventing HIV in large trials last year.
