A new way to prevent HIV delivers dramatic results in trial.
For over a decade, taking a pill like Truvada every day has been the standard of care for HIV prevention efforts.
In clinical trials, this type of preventive drug, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), can be 99% effective in stopping new HIV infections from sex.
Now a new trial —- called PURPOSE 1 —- points the way to a new preventive strategy —- a twice yearly injection of a drug called lenacapavir.
The trial began on August 2021 and, so far, not a single woman who received the injections has contracted HIV.
The trial has yet to be peer-reviewed, but these early results have been met with excitement.
The PURPOSE 1 trial is part of a larger initiative to improve HIV prevention across the global south. »