(NewsNation) — One shot every six months successfully protected young women in Africa from HIV, early trial results from Gilead Sciences Inc. showed.
The trial showed the new medication lenacapavir “demonstrated 100% efficacy as a preventive treatment” for HIV in cisgender women aged 16-25.
The drug was used across 25 sites in South Africa and three in Uganda as the first part of its PURPOSE trials, which had more than 5,300 participants and compared the injection to once-daily oral medications Descovy and Truvada.
None of the 2,134 taking lenacapavir contracted HIV. A total 16 of the 1,068 women taking Truvada were infected, while 39 of the 2,136 on Descovy contracted the disease.
The successful results caused the Independent Data Monitoring Committee to end the trial early, opting to provide lenacapavir to all participants due to its superior protection, Gilead claimed.
“With zero infections and 100% efficacy, twice-yearly lenacapavir has demonstrated its potential as an important new tool to help prevent HIV infections,” Gilead Chief Medical Officer Merdad Parsey said in a news release. “We look forward to additional results from the ongoing PURPOSE clinical program and continuing toward our goal of helping to end the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere.”
The drug was “generally well-tolerated,” with no new or significant side effects arising during the course of the first trial.
The next step in the PURPOSE trials will test lenacapavir’s efficacy on cisgender men, transgender men, transgender women and nonbinary people who have sex with those assigned male at birth. Participants will be from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.
Results are expected by early 2025. In the news release, Linda-Gail Bekker, director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Center at the University of Cape Town, said this drug could be a “critical new choice” for HIV prevention worldwide.
“Twice-yearly lenacapavir for PrEP, if approved, could provide a critical new choice for HIV prevention that fits into the lives of many people who could benefit from PrEP around the world—especially cisgender women,” Bekker said.
