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 — […]
Long-Acting Injectable Comparable to Oral ART for HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa
DENVER — Long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine (Cabenuva) injectable therapy resulted in similarly high levels of viral suppression to oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) in African patients with HIV, a phase IIIb randomized, open-label trial showed. At 48 weeks, 96.9% of participants receiving cabotegravir/rilpivirine had a viral load of less than 50 copies/mL compared with 97.3% of those receiving […]
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 […]
FDA Approves First Long-Acting Injectable to Prevent HIV Infection
The first long-acting injectable for HIV prevention has now been approved for use, the FDA announced on Monday. Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA, branded as Apretude) is administered as a monthly injection for the first 2 months, then every 2 months afterwards. It is the first long-acting injectable for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The drug is approved […]
Year in Review: HIV
Long-acting therapies headlined a year of continued drug development, both in the treatment and prevention of HIV. Meanwhile, CDC recommended a third dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for certain patients living with advanced or untreated HIV to boost their protection. Cabotegravir’s Big Year The year started with the approval of cabotegravir-rilpivirine (Cabenuva), the first […]
Long-Acting Injectable for HIV Prevention Passes Hurdles, but Barriers Remain
Long-acting injectable HIV prevention with cabotegravir was superior to daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-emtricitabine (TDF/FTC; Truvada) in men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women, a randomized trial found. Among more than 4,500 participants in the phase IIb/III trial, 13 incident infections occurred in the cabotegravir group compared with […]
Survey Probes Barriers to Long-Acting Injectable PrEP for MSM
Fear of potential severe side effects may be the greatest barrier to long-acting injectable HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM), followed by out-of-pocket costs, a researcher said. When examining relative importance of perceived barriers to long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), perceived side effects was the most important, representing 52% of the […]
Novel Drug Helped HIV Patients Achieve Viral Suppression
More than 80% of heavily treatment-experienced HIV patients with multi-drug resistance who received long-acting subcutaneous lenacapavir along with an optimized background regimen experienced viral suppression at week 26, according to results of an ongoing randomized phase II/III trial. Overall, 81% of patients randomized to the investigational agent lenacapavir with an optimized background regimen of antiretroviral […]
Vaginal Ring as Safe as Oral PrEP in Late Pregnancy
The long-acting dapivirine vaginal ring, which reduces HIV risk in young women, had a comparable safety profile in late pregnancy to an oral daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen, according to an interim analysis of a small open-label trial in sub-Saharan Africa. Adverse pregnancy outcomes were rare, with one stillbirth and one neonatal death in the […]