Long-Acting HIV Prevention , Advances in long-acting formulations of antiretroviral medicines were one of the most exciting areas of HIV research showcased at the recent AIDS 2022 conference held in Montreal, Canada.
Long-Acting HIV Prevention , The only long-acting antiretroviral product approved so far in South Africa is a vaginal ring used for HIV prevention. The ring contains the drug dapivirine and provides protection for one month. An HIV prevention injection administered every two months is expected to be green-lighted soon. Such use of antiretrovirals to prevent HIV infection is referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP in the form of pills (oral PrEP) is already available in the public sector in South Africa. In November 2020, Spotlight reported on a landmark study called HPTN084 that showed that an HIV injection administered every two months is highly effective at preventing HIV infection. Since then, the injection, commonly referred to as CAB-LA (long-acting cabotegravir), has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and a growing chorus of stakeholders around the world and in South Africa have called for its rapid rollout.
Long-Acting HIV Prevention , Those calls will be strengthened by new data from HPTN084 presented at the conference by Professor Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, Director of Research at the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI). HPTN084 compares the use of CAB-LA to daily oral PrEP (tenofovir and emtricitabine). Delany-Moretlwe presented data on new HIV infections in the study from November 2020 to November 2021. 23 new HIV infections were detected in that time, with three in the CAB-LA group and 20 in the oral PrEP group. This brings the cumulative number of HIV infections seen in the study so far (the blinded and unblinded period) to 62, with six being in the CAB-LA group and 56 in the oral PrEP group. This data came from 3 223 people – 1 613 in the CAB-LA group and 1 610 in the oral PrEP group. “Overall, HIV incidence was less than 1% across both groups, with participants in the cabotegravir group now estimated to have an 89% lower risk of HIV infection compared to those in the TDF/FTC (tenofovir and emtricitabine) group across both the blinded and unblinded period,” she said. The difference between the two groups is thought to be largely driven by differences in adherence. When taken as prescribed, oral PrEP is thought to be about 99% effective at preventing HIV infection. 650,000 people died of AIDS-related causes last year.
Source: This news is originally published by allafrica