By Puyaan Singh

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences' new HIV prevention drug has been added to CVS Health's commercial ​insurance plans, the drugmaker's CEO Daniel O'Day said at ‌a major industry conference that kicked off on Monday in San Francisco.

"CVS has ‌confirmed their coverage of Yeztugo as of January 1, putting us at more than 80% (insurer) coverage overall," O'Day said.

In August, Reuters reported that CVS had not added the drug to its plans based ⁠on clinical, financial, and ‌regulatory factors, despite the medicine's proven effectiveness. The twice-yearly injection costs nearly $30,000 a year.

The three largest ‍pharmacy benefit managers, CVS Caremark, UnitedHealth Group's Optum RX and Cigna's Express Scripts, control about 70% of specialty drug prescriptions in the U.S.

Gilead, its ​investors and AIDS activists have high hopes for Yeztugo. Approved ‌in June for people at high risk of HIV, the drug was shown to be nearly 100% effective at preventing infection in large trials, fueling fresh optimism about limiting the spread of the deadly virus.

O'Day said the company has reached its forecast ⁠of sales worth $150 million in 2025, ​after the drug's launch in the ​middle of the year.

He also said lenacapavir, the active ingredient in Yeztugo, "was delivered for the first time ever ‍in a Sub-Saharan ⁠African country at the end of last year, in the same year as it was introduced in the United ⁠States."

O'Day said two-thirds of HIV cases are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Shares of Gilead were ‌up 1.5% in afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in ‌Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)