For over a decade, taking a pill like Truvada every day has been the standard of care for HIV prevention efforts. In the real world, however, that is not always the case. Now a new trial —- called PURPOSE 1 —- points the way to a new preventive strategy —- a twice yearly injection of a drug called lenacapavir. The trial was sponsored by Gilead Sciences, the California-based maker of the drug. In this double-blind, randomized study of 5, cisgender women in South Africa and Uganda, 2, got the injection and the others took one of two types of daily PrEP pills.
The trial began on August and, so far, not a single woman who received the injections has contracted HIV. These results were significant enough for the Data Monitoring Committee —- an independent group of experts appointed to assess the progress of clinical trials —- to recommend that Gilead halt its blinded trial and offer lenacapavir to all study participants.
On June 20, Gilead announced these results, and now, all participants can choose to receive the injection. And, every week, about 4, teen girls and young women in Africa are newly infected with HIV.
Jason Zucker , an assistant professor of medicine and infectious disease expert at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. A medication that is [given] every 6 months has a lot of potential. Philip Grant , clinical associate professor and director of the HIV clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine, agrees that lenacapvir could help fill a gap in prevention options.
Lenacapavir is not a new drug. It is one of several studies that are part of ongoing efforts to end the HIV epidemic by Any eventual approval and widespread use would come with challenges. Activists across Uganda and South Africa [MIG5] have urged Gilead Sciences to license lenacapavir to the Medicines Patent Pool — a United Nations-backed organization that partners with governments, industry and other organizations to license medications. This would allow for manufacturing of generic versions of the drug at a fraction of the cost.
