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The deadline to submit a proposal is 15 August 2025.
Unitaid is stepping up its efforts to turn the tide on HIV transmission by inviting organizations to submit ideas for targeted projects aimed at contributing to the effective rollout of lenacapavir – the world’s longest-acting HIV prevention tool to date – in sub-Saharan African countries. With this new funding opportunity, alongside ongoing grants, and complementing efforts by countries and partners, Unitaid seeks bold, scalable solutions that will ensure lenacapavir reaches those most at risk and underserved by existing HIV prevention services.
Lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), showed exceptional rates of effectiveness in preventing HIV infections in clinical trials. Recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for prevention of HIV infection and expected to be recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2025, it offers a promising opportunity to curb new HIV infections.
Yet the potential of lenacapavir can only be realized through two critical elements: an affordable, sustainable supply paired with cost-effective delivery approaches that reach high-burden communities – especially adolescent girls and young women, pregnant and breastfeeding populations and key populations who continue to face barriers in accessing HIV prevention tools. A paradigm shift is needed to ensure equitable access to lenacapavir and that it reaches, effectively, the people and communities who need it most.
In addition to ongoing investments to help bring generic lenacapavir at the lowest possible cost and to support early adopter countries to integrate the product as soon as possible into HIV programs, Unitaid is now inviting proposals focused on adapted and scalable delivery approaches for those in need. These approaches must reach a critical mass of people at high risk of HIV infection in high-burden areas – enough to break major transmission cycles. Such proposed delivery approaches, led by local organizations in sub-Saharan Africa, will begin operations in line with countries’ national introduction plans. Proposals must demonstrate how the project will deliver measurable epidemiological impact, ensure strong and sustained community engagement, and optimize cost-effectiveness, treatment literacy and demand generation.
At a critical time when global HIV prevention targets are significantly off track and international funding is declining, Unitaid’s new investment in lenacapavir builds on our longstanding work to introduce innovative HIV prevention options, from oral PrEP to, more recently, long-acting injectable cabotegravir. Indeed, this new funding opportunity follows as well on our US$22 million investment launched in December 2024, which integrates lenacapavir into prior PrEP investments, supporting critical upstream work for lenacapavir to accelerate market entry of generics at the lowest possible price and overcoming access and adoption barriers on the ground.
Unitaid, overall, is adopting a portfolio approach to accelerate the introduction and scale-up of lenacapavir, grounded in three core objectives: accelerating normative and policy steps for lenacapavir use; ensuring availability of the lowest possible priced quality-assured generics and their broader access for all in need; and supporting country-level adoption. Ongoing Unitaid-funded grants are directly supporting this work, implemented by a wide range of partners including the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz/Fiotec, Brazil) and the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (South Africa) in collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, ITPC and Wemos, as well as through it support to WHO’s HIV Department and Prequalification Program, key to esnure accelerated access to lenacapavir by countries in need. Importantly, this work aligns with significant efforts by other funders, including the Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the Global Fund.
With this new call, Unitaid aims to further catalyze country-level action to get lenacapavir to the people who need it most – quickly, effectively and equitably.
For more information including how to apply, read the original blog.
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