None of the 5,000 women and girls in South Africa and Uganda who received the shots contracted the virus that causes AIDS, a study shows. A trial for men is underway.
A lab technician works with vials of lenacapavir, an injectable drug for HIV prevention, at a research site in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday. A twice-yearly injection could help prevent HIV infections, according to the results of a new study described by medical experts as a breakthrough.
In a randomized trial involving more than 5,000 young women and girls in South Africa and Uganda, none of those who received the prevention shots contracted HIV. The results were“This appears to be a new breakthrough for HIV prevention.
The shots were produced by drugmaker Gilead Sciences, which funded the trial, and some of the researchers were Gilead employees. Lenacapavir, sold under the brand name Sunlenca, is approvedfor HIV infections in the United States. The goal of the trial was to prove its safety and efficacy for the prevention of infection in adolescent girls and young women. A separate trial for men is underway.
When it became clear that the shots were more effective than daily pills — 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent of participants who received one of two daily pills as part of the trial contracted HIV from their partners — the trial was halted and all participants were offered the option of receiving the injections, the researchers said. The researchers also found the incidence of HIV was lower with the use of the shots than the usual rate of HIV in the community.
“Lenacapavir could be life-changing for people at risk of getting HIV and could reverse the epidemic if it is made affordable in the countries with the highest rate of new infections,” said Helen Bygrave, a chronic disease adviser at Doctors Without Borders.
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