The Indian drug company Cipla confirmed that a generic version of the prophylaxis, long-acting cabotegravir (CAB-LA), would be manufactured at its plants in Benoni, near Johannesburg, or Durban.
An affordable version of a HIV-prevention drug will be made in South Africa for the first time.
Cabotegravir blocks HIV from entering a person’s cells.
It reduces to almost zero an individual’s chances of getting infected with the virus through sex.
The developers of CAB-LA, ViiV Healthcare, and the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), had granted licences to three companies, including Cipla.
The other two companies, Aurobindo and Viatris, are also Indian corporations.