New hope to stop HIV

Miracle treatment for HIV - 12th August 2024

Experts in HIV prevention have described a new injection as "a miracle". The pre-exposure treatment, containing the drug lenacapavir, has been completely successful in preventing transmission of the disease in a trial conducted in South Africa and Uganda

Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, who led the trial which involved women aged 16 to 25, was moved to tears upon seeing the results. "I literally burst into tears," she said.

The HIV virus, first identified in 1981, attacks the body's immune system, reducing its ability to fight other infections and diseases. In the first 10 years, it killed millions, before progress towards effective treatments began. Although no cure or vaccine exists, antiretroviral drugs can make the virus undetectable and untransmittable. Meanwhile, lenacapavir and other pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs prevent infection.

However, in sub-Saharan Africa, these treatments are less accessible. One in 25 adults in the region is living with HIV, accounting for two-thirds of the global HIV positive population. Research identifies young women and teenage girls as particularly vulnerable to infection because they may be unable to insist on safe practices in relationships.

Part of the trial saw women take lenacapavir as a daily pill, but infections continued because many did not take the pills consistently. The efficacy of lenacapavir injections is seen as a gamechanger.

Unusually, pregnancies were permitted during this trial. 193 participants became pregnant with no signs of drug-related health issues in the babies thus far. Mother-to-child HIV transmission, from pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, accounts for a tenth of new infections. Therefore, the drug's long-term safety for mothers and babies could offer groundbreaking prevention.

However, quick and affordable access to the treatment is essential to realise this potential. Gilead Sciences, which produces lenacapavir, has pledged to ensure cheaper generic versions are available once regulatory approval makes the drug widely available.