Kisii — Twice-yearly injectable Lenacapavir treatment for HIV has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy for HIV prevention in cisgender women.
At the International AIDS Conference, Linder Gail Bekker a scientist and principal investigator for the South Africa study presented the results from the PURPOSE 1 trial of the twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir prevention said is 100% efficacy.
Bekker noted, during the clinical trials 5,000 girls from South Africa and Uganda volunteered and tested the efficacy of the lenacapavir treatment.
"Lenarcapavir is a fusion capsid inhibitor which interferes with the HIV capsid,a protein shell that protects HIV's genetic enzymes for replication. This vaccine is administered under the skin once every six months, "said Bekker.
The trial had three arms and women who participated in this test were randomly chosen to test whether the six-month injection vaccine could provide better protection against HIV infection as prEP for women aged 16 and 25 years than F/TDE, a daily prEP which has been in use for over a decade.
During the trial, none of 2,132 women who received the lenacapavir contracted HIV indicating a 100% efficiency while 16 out 1,068 women who took the F/TDF and 39 out of 2,136 who received the discovery F/TAF contracted HIV virus.
The clinical trial was sponsored by the Gilead Sciences the drug developers and it randomly tested several other things.
To the young people ,the twice-yearly injection will find it easy in prevention decisions and this may reduce unpredictable and barres on HIV transmission.
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Twice-yearly injection is an option for young women who struggle to get an appointment at clinics or who can't keep the pills without facing stigma or violence keeping them free from HIV.
International AIDS Society (IAS) president Shalon Lewin said the data confirm that the twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention is a breakthrough advance with huge public health potential.
If approved and delivered, rapidly affordable and equitable to those who need it, this action will accelerate global progress in HIV prevention.
"We all owe a debt of gratitude to the thousands of young women in South Africa and Uganda who volunteered to be part of this study," said Lewin
She calls upon all stakeholders to work together to accelerate equitable delivery of existing HIV prevention options and do more to prepare for the future. " Now we eagerly await results from PURPOSE 2, which is assessing twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention in other populations and countries," Said Lewin.
Purpose 2 trials are ongoing in different regions including Africa .
UNAIDS indicates,1.3 million new HIV infections were recorded globally in the past one year making it difficult to attain the 2025 target of fewer than 500,000 globally and even the goal of ending HIV by 2030.
