On an annual basis, around 1.3 million new cases of HIV infection are reported all over the world, with girls and women representing 44 percent of these cases. There is a 62 percent prevalence of this fraction in sub-Saharan Africa. But something is about to change. According to recent findings of a study that has been hailed as a breakthrough by medical professionals, there is a possibility that HIV infections might be avoided by administering an injection twice a year.
These stellar results show that twice-yearly lenacapavir for PrEP, if approved, could offer a highly effective, tolerable and discreet choice that could potentially improve PrEP uptake and persistence, helping us to reduce HIV in cisgender women globally, stated Linda-Gail Bekker, director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Center at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and former President of the International AIDS Society.
To avoid infections caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV, the majority of individuals have been taking preventative measures known as PrEP for a number of years. One example of this is the daily medication known as Truvada. On the other hand, the injections of lenacapavir are administered twice a year, which might be an additional tool in the arsenal for avoiding HIV infections.
Study insights
Teenage girls and young women from South Africa and Uganda participated in the study, which was also a double-blind study and was referred to as the PURPOSE 1 trial. The participants were selected at random either to get lenacapavir injections every 26 weeks or daily HIV medications in pill form. The medications that were administered were either emtricitabine–tenofovir disoproxil fumarate or emtricitabine–tenofovir alafenamide.
Furthermore, researchers evaluated the number of HIV infections that occurred among women and girls during a period of 26 weeks. The results were intriguing. They found that there were a total of 55 infections: 39 infections in the group that received daily emtricitabine–tenofovir alafenamide, 16 infections in the group that received daily emtricitabine–tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, but no infections in the group that received lenacapavir.
The researchers are now conducting a number of clinical studies with lenacapavir. Also, another five HIV prevention studies are being conducted all across the world as part of Gilead’s PURPOSE initiative, which includes the most recent data from Phase 3. You can find more details about the study and researchers’ work here.
