Latest news with #antiretroviral
Medical News Today
17-07-2025
- Health
- Medical News Today
WHO recommends lenacapavir as twice yearly injection to help prevent HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) if not treated, is currently treated by taking antiretroviral there is currently no approved vaccine for HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued new guidelines recommending the use of injectable lenacapavir to help prevent HIV. According to UNAIDS, in 2024, about 40.8 million people around the world were living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) — a virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) if not treated. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in the same year about 1.3 million people received a new diagnosis of HIV, and about 630,000 died from HIV-related causes. While there is currently no approved vaccine for HIV, the WHO has recently issued new guidelines at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference (IAS 2025) on HIV Science recommending the use of injectable lenacapavir to help prevent infection. What is lenacapavir and how does it work? Lenacapavir is a medication originally designed to treat HIV infection. It is currently sold under the brand names Sunlenca for HIV treatment, and Yeztugo for HIV prevention. According to Carolyn Chu, MD, MSc, FAAFP, AAHIVS, chief medical officer of the American Academy of HIV Medicine, lenacapavir is a novel antiviral medication — belonging to the 'HIV capsid inhibitor' class — which was initially developed for use as part of a combination treatment regimen for people with HIV. 'The initial product (brand name Sunlenca) was approved for treatment in late 2022 based on the CAPELLA Study that examined its safety and efficacy among study participants with HIV who were heavily treatment-experienced and had multidrug-resistant infection,' Chu explained to Medical News Today.'Because of its unique molecular properties, scientists were very interested in determining whether lenacapavir could also be developed for use as an HIV prevention intervention,' she added.'[Lenacapavir] disrupts multiple stages of the HIV life cycle, which makes it an attractive drug to study further — it is also very potent (with effective concentrations at pico-molar ranges) and is active against viruses which may be resistant to HIV medications that have been commonly used over the last decade.'— Carolyn Chu, MDChu said that when lenacapavir was studied as a long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV preventive option in the PURPOSE clinical trials, investigators found an almost 100% reduction in new HIV infections among participants who received it as a twice-yearly injectable. 'These findings led to its recent approval under a new indication, i.e., used as a prevention medication, brand name Yeztugo,' she added. What are the new WHO lenacapavir guidelines? Through its new guidelines, the WHO recommends the use of injectable lenacapavir twice a year as an additional PrEP option to help prevent HIV. Examples of currently used PrEP options include the oral medications Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) and Descovy (emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide), and the injectable drug Apretude (cabotegravir).The WHO also recommended the dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR) in 2021 as an additional PrEP choice for cisgender women. The guidelines are based on safety and efficacy findings for lenacapavir from various studies and clinical trials, most notably PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 3 of the PURPOSE 1 trial in cisgender women resulted in no cases of HIV infection among study participants given lenacapavir. Further, the PURPOSE 2 trial found 99.9% of cisgender men and gender-diverse people did not become infected with HIV after receiving the drug. In addition to the lenacapavir recommendation, the WHO also recommends a public health approach to HIV testing through the use of HIV rapid tests. Lenacapavir for people concerned about HIV infectionAccording to the WHO's new guidelines, offering injectable lenacapavir twice a year may help overcome potential barriers to current PrEP options, such as unwillingness to take a regular oral pill and a wish for lower amounts of clinic visits. 'Lenacapavir represents a major scientific advance — it's the first long-acting injectable HIV prevention strategy that requires dosing just twice a year,' Chu told MNT.'For some individuals, especially those who have difficulty adhering to daily or even bimonthly prevention strategies like oral PrEP or cabotegravir, this would be especially welcome,' she Liu, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA, chief of infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, explained to MNT that:'Across the world HIV remains a serious disease and preventing new infection is critical. Lenacapavir is an injectable antiviral that lasts 6 months, protecting people for long periods of time. Oral antivirals that are approved for preventing HIV require daily dosing to be effective.' 'People don't like storing oral HIV antivirals at home, where there is stigma attached to those medications, and people forget to take medications or use condoms,' Liu continued. 'Large-scale treatment of people with lenacapavir will be the most efficient way yet to prevent HIV infection until an effective vaccine is produced.'The critical need for HIV prevention HIV and AIDS continue to be a global problem. According to UNAIDS, although the number of new global HIV infections has decreased by about 39% since 2010, there are still areas around the world where numbers are increasing, making the need for HIV prevention critical. 'Prevention of HIV is much less expensive than treating people with HIV infection with expensive antivirals for the rest of their lives,' commented Paul E. Sax, MD, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical is another reason why prevention is important. 'Treatment with antivirals is very difficult to sustain, particularly in poorer countries,' said Sax.'The ideal situation is to have multiple options for preventing HIV among those at risk — this includes not only available PrEP strategies, but also other novel PrEP approaches such as an investigational once-monthly pill for those who don't like or want injections,' he explained.'Of course, we still hope that the HIV vaccine research will advance to the point of giving us an effective vaccine, but the scientific hurdles have proven very high, so we are not anticipating any major breakthroughs in this area in the near future,' Sax added, on a cautionary note. Finally, Chu noted that:'Right now, a lot of conversations are centered on ensuring that everyone who is interested in (lenacapavir) will have access to it. Multiple studies have confirmed that interest in this new option is high, and so our systems and policymakers need to be forward-thinking and work in close collaboration with community members and other stakeholders to ensure that all the necessary pieces to initiate and continue this new PrEP option (e.g., HIV screening/testing, obtaining the medication from pharmacies, training people on how to administer the doses, relaying medication/appointment reminders, etc.) are identified soon and can be rolled out equitably.'
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Trump Canceled Their Salaries. These Health Workers in Uganda Showed Up Anyway.
In April, I stood on the soft green lawn of the home of a retired police captain in Uganda, surrounded by older women with H.I.V. The crowd, which included many grandmothers, wore formal outfits, fit for church, a show of respect and appreciation for the team arriving from a clinic 30 minutes away to deliver the antiretroviral drugs that kept them alive. They watched in grave silence as a nurse, pharmacists and counselors from the AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in Tororo unpacked their drugs, pharmacy log books and other supplies. When a counselor jokingly chided them, 'Why aren't you happy to see us?' the crowd offered a perfunctory cheer. Then clients said that they'd heard news of the Trump administration's changes to foreign aid. Many of them wept as they explained their fear that TASO Tororo wouldn't come as scheduled. A grandmother of 12, fearing for the survival of her teenage granddaughter, also living with H.I.V., pleaded to me, an American, to convince whoever in my government had put the program in jeopardy to relent. 'Change the heart,' she begged repeatedly, then collapsed forward, her body shaking. It was 20 years ago that I made my first visit to Tororo, Uganda. A rural community where roughly a third of residents live on less than a dollar a day, Tororo is a world away from Washington. But the U.S. Senate could influence the fate of H.I.V.-positive people there this week. Lawmakers have until July 18 to vote on a bill, known as a 'rescission package,' that would slash $900 million for global health, including $400 million for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which supports H.I.V. treatment worldwide. It has saved 25 million lives since it was established by President George W. Bush 22 years ago. The package retroactively approves the unlawful actions of the Department of Government Efficiency, which in January and February halted foreign aid and other spending already approved by Congress. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved a waiver to continue PEPFAR's lifesaving services, including the distribution of antiretrovirals, the maelstrom of grant cancellations and terminations at the U.S. Agency for International Development left the H.I.V. program in chaos. This was evident in Tororo. When the medical team arrived with drugs for the grandmothers and other clients in April, they hadn't received salaries for three months as a result of a canceled grant. Nor had TASO staff members, who support more than 120,000 people across the country. And yet, counselors, doctors, nurses and peer educators kept showing up. Many counselors and educators also have H.I.V., and they told me that abandoning their clients was unthinkable. Mr. Rubio has positioned himself as a champion of PEPFAR. And indeed, his waiver, PEPFAR's operational structure (it has been housed in the State Department and implemented by multiple government agencies since it began) and the work of volunteers like those in Tororo have kept the program operational, even as U.S.A.I.D. formally shut down this month. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
11-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Trump's aid cuts risk reversing decades of HIV progress, warns UNAids
The UN has warned that the halt of US foreign aid is a 'ticking time bomb' that could undo decades of progress in the fight against Aids. According to a new report from the UNAids agency, approximately 31.6 million people were on antiretroviral drugs in 2024. Deaths from Aids-related illnesses had dropped by more than half since 2010, totalling 630,000 that year. However, the report cautions that infections are likely to rise as funding cuts have led to the closure of prevention and treatment programmes. The United States has been the world's biggest donor of humanitarian assistance, but President Donald Trump's abrupt slashing of international aid in February sent the global humanitarian community scrambling to keep life-saving operations afloat. 'We are proud of the achievements but worried about this sudden disruption reversing the gains we have made,' UNAids executive director Winnie Byanyima said ahead of the report's launch in Johannesburg. The agency in April warned that a permanent discontinuation of PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/Aids, would lead to more than six million new infections and an additional 4.2 million Aids-related deaths in the next four years. Trump's foreign aid cuts will strain responses to health crises worldwide: WHO This would bring the pandemic back to levels not seen since the early 2000s. 'This is not just a funding gap – it's a ticking time bomb,' whose effects are already felt worldwide, Byanyima said in a press release. Over 60 per cent of all women-led HIV organisations surveyed by UNAids had lost funding or had to suspend services, the report said. In a striking example, the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to prevent transmission in Nigeria fell by over 85 per cent in the first few months of 2025. The 'story of how the world has come together' to fight HIV/Aids is 'one of the most important stories of progress in global health,' Byanyima said. 'But that great story has been disrupted massively' by Trump's 'unprecedented' and 'cruel' move, she said. 'Priorities can shift, but you do not take away life-saving support from people just like that,' she said. Demonstrators protest against cuts to American foreign aid spending, including USAID and the PEPFAR programme to combat HIV/Aids in Washington earlier this year. Photo: AP Crucial medical research on prevention and treatment has also shut down, including many in South Africa, which has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and has become a leader in global research. 'Developing countries themselves contribute very much towards the research on HIV and Aids, and that research serves the whole world,' Byaniyma said. In 25 out of 60 low- and middle-income countries surveyed by UNAIDS, governments had found ways to compensate for part of the funding shortfall with domestic resources. 'We have to move towards nationally-owned and financed responses,' Byaniyma said, calling for debt relief and the reform of international financial institutions to 'free up the fiscal space for developing countries to pay for their own response'. Still, the global HIV response built from grass roots activism was 'resilient by its very nature,' she said. 'We moved from people dying every single day to now a point where it is really like a chronic illness,' she said. 'There is no question that the investment has been worth it and continues to be worth it. It saves lives.'
France 24
10-07-2025
- Health
- France 24
US funding cuts could reverse decades of gains in AIDS fight: UN
Around 31.6 million people were on antiretroviral drugs in 2024 and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses had more than halved since 2010 to 630,000 that year, the UNAIDS agency said in a new report. But now infections were likely to shoot up as funding cuts have shuttered prevention and treatment programmes, it said. The United States has been the world's biggest donor of humanitarian assistance but President Donald Trump's abrupt slashing of international aid in February sent the global humanitarian community scrambling to keep life-saving operations afloat. "We are proud of the achievements, but worried about this sudden disruption reversing the gains we have made," UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP ahead of the report's launch in Johannesburg. The agency in April warned that a permanent discontinuation of PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS, would lead to more than six million new infections and an additional 4.2 million AIDS-related deaths in the next four years. This would bring the pandemic back to levels not seen since the early 2000s. "This is not just a funding gap – it's a ticking time bomb" whose effects are already felt worldwide, Byanyima said in a press release. Over 60 percent of all women-led HIV organisations surveyed by UNAIDS had lost funding or had to suspend services, the report said. In a striking example, the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to prevent transmission in Nigeria fell by over 85 percent in the first few months of 2025. The "story of how the world has come together" to fight HIV/AIDS is "one of the most important stories of progress in global health," Byanyima told AFP. "But that great story has been disrupted massively" by Trump's "unprecedented" and "cruel" move, she said. "Priorities can shift, but you do not take away life-saving support from people just like that," she said. Key medical research affected Crucial medical research on prevention and treatment have also shut down, including many in South Africa which has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and has become a leader in global research. "Developing countries themselves contribute very much towards the research on HIV and AIDS, and that research serves the whole world," Byaniyma said. In 25 out of 60 low- and middle-income countries surveyed by UNAIDS, governments had found ways to compensate part of the funding shortfall with domestic resources. "We have to move towards nationally-owned and financed responses," Byaniyma said, calling for debt relief and the reform of international financial institutions to "free up the fiscal space for developing countries to pay for their own response". Still, the global HIV response built from grassroots activism was "resilient by its very nature", she told AFP. "We moved from people dying every single day to now a point where it is really like a chronic illness," she said. © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) Reports Advances in HIV Treatment with Phase 2/3 Clinical Trial Update
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:) is one of the . Bridgewater Associates holds over $56 million worth of shares of GILD, which represents 0.26% of its portfolio. A closeup shot of a laboratory technician handling a medical device used for fertility treatments. On June 26, 2025, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) announced the development of its ongoing Phase 2/3 clinical trial that is expected to treat HIV in pediatric patients. The study began in January 2014. It is focused on evaluating the safety, dosage, and effectiveness of cobicistat-boosted Atazanavir (ATV/co), cobicistat-boosted Darunavir (DRV/co), and Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Alafenamide (F/TAF) in participants with virologically suppressed HIV-1. This development highlights the company's continued commitment to advancing antiretroviral therapies for all age groups. Given the limited number of competitors in the pediatric HIV market, this progress is expected to strengthen Gilead Sciences, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GILD) market position and boost investors' confidence. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company, researches and develops antiviral drugs for patients with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and COVID-19. GILD is among the list of cheap stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of GILD as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and 10 Best Marketing Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None.
