The Future of ART Regimens for HIV Is in Long-Acting Agents
Recent developments in antiretroviral therapy (ART) include longer-acting therapies that don’t require a daily oral pill and two-drug regimens that could decrease toxicity associated with standard triple-drug regimens. The approval of cabotegravir plus rilpivirine (Cabenuva) in January 2021 was the first to provide both benefits as a monthly ART injection. The approval was expanded to […]
Once-Weekly ART Showed Similar Efficacy for HIV as Daily ART
DENVER — A once-weekly oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen of the investigational drug islatravir, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor, with lenacapavir (Sunlenca) showed similar efficacy to daily oral ART in people with HIV, a phase II randomized study showed. The virologic suppression rate was 94.2% in both the patients who received the weekly regimen […]
Monthly ART Injections Top Pills for HIV Patients With Adherence Problems
Long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine (Cabenuva; CAB/RPV-LA) appeared superior to daily oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) in maintaining viral load suppression for people living with HIV who have trouble adhering to oral ART, according to an interim analysis of a phase III trial. At 52 weeks, numerically fewer patients assigned to monthly injections of CAB/RPV-LA experienced regimen failure — […]
Very Early ART Can Result in Sustained HIV Suppression in Neonates
In neonates with acquired in utero HIV infection, administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 48 hours of life can lead to sustained HIV virological suppression by 2 years, a phase I/II proof-of-concept study indicated. In two cohorts who received three-drug nevirapine-based ART regimens within two days of life and maintained protocol- defined virological control criteria […]
Very Young Children in HIV Treatment More Likely to Die
Children younger than age 5 years with HIV who received antiretroviral treatment (ART) died globally at percentages two to nine times higher than older children, a CDC study found. Among children receiving ART for HIV through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), 4.9% of those under age 1 and 2.5% of those […]
Clinical Challenges: Test Your Knowledge of HIV
A MedPage Today Clinical Challenges series on HIV looked at long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV care during the COVID pandemic, and efforts to destigmatize HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The following is a three-question quiz to test your knowledge on each aspect of the series. Correct answers and explanations appear after completing the quiz. Please enable […]
Another HIV Patient Possibly Cured With Stem Cell Transplant
BRISBANE, Australia — Another HIV patient has been off antiretroviral medication for 20 months without detectable HIV levels after he underwent stem cell transplant to treat cancer — but, unlike previous “cures,” this patient’s donor stem cells did not have the mutation that confers resistance to HIV. Dubbed the “Geneva patient,” the man was diagnosed […]
20M People Worldwide Received HIV Treatment Through U.S.-Led Program
Approximately 20 million people with HIV in 54 countries have received antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as of September 2022, the CDC reported. This represents an increase of 300-fold from the 66,550 reported in September 2004, according to Helen M. Chun, MD, of the Division for Global […]
Comorbidity Burden in People With HIV Tied to Increased Mortality Risk
The prevalence of comorbidities in people with HIV on effective antiretroviral treatment was consistently higher compared with HIV-negative individuals, and was linked to an increased risk for death, according to a prospective longitudinal cohort study. In people age 45 and older followed for a median 5.9 years, 5.2% of the 596 HIV-positive participants died compared […]
Long-Acting HIV Drug Promising for Treatment-Naive Patients
Lenacapavir (Sunlenca) given every 26 weeks along with daily antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppressed HIV on par with conventional regimens in the first-line setting in the phase II CALIBRATE trial. Viral suppression to fewer than 50 copies/mL at week 54 was 85-90% across all three groups given the drug whether orally or subcutaneously every 26 weeks […]