LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A new long-acting preventive

HIV drug could reach the world's poorest countries by the end of

2025 or early 2026, a global health official told Reuters on

Tuesday.

The ambition is to start deliveries of Gilead Sciences' ( GILD )

lenacapavir on that timeline, said Hui Yang, head of

supply operations at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis

and Malaria. However, she said a lot of things need to happen

first, including the injectable drug receiving regulatory

approvals from authorities like the United States Food and Drug

Administration and the World Health Organization.

Lenacapavir is already approved for use as a treatment for

multi-drug resistant HIV, costing around $42,250 for the first

year of therapy in the United States. Clinical trials this year

showed it is also very effective at preventing infection and

Gilead is seeking approvals for the new use globally.

"We don't want...low and low-middle income countries to

wait, to be at the back of the line," when these approvals come

in, said Yang, an equality issue that has plagued the fight

against HIV for decades.

To avoid this, the Global Fund said on Tuesday it would join

forces with the United States President's Emergency Plan for

AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), with funding from the Children's

Investment Fund Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation, to support affordable access to the pricey drug in

countries they work with "from day one".

The groups did not provide further details on how this may

work, other than saying they aimed to reach at least two million

people over three years.

Gilead signed deals in October this year with six generic

drugmakers to make and sell lenacapavir more cheaply in 120 low

and middle-income countries. The move was criticized for leaving

out countries, especially in Latin America.

No deal has yet been signed with Gilead or any of these

generic producers, Yang said, but they will work with all the

companies involved.

Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.