A new injectable form of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) from ViiV Healthcare administered every two months has been shown to be 69 percent more effective at averting HIV infection than Gilead’s widely-used oral antiretroviral drug Truvada, according to its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline.
An independent monitoring board halted a drug trial among men who have sex with men early after the drug was found to be effective, Reuters reports: “Kimberly Smith, ViiV’s head of research, said a long-acting injection was a better route of administer because users have shown to struggle with a strict routine of daily pills, heightening the infection risk. … GSK, which is trailing Gilead in the HIV treatment market, will speak to drug regulators about a possible approval of cabotegravir based on the prevention trial, a spokesman said.”
PMLive reports: “For ViiV – a joint venture majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline – the study is a big boost to its ambitions for cabotegravir, an HIV integrase inhibitor that it hopes could provide long-term HIV therapy with a single injection, avoiding treatment compliance issues with daily oral drugs such as skipped doses.”
