UK Pharma Company Develops Injection For Long-Acting Prevention Against HIV

Bhubaneswar: In a major development in prevention of HIV, a UK-based pharmaceutical company has developed an injection to provide long-lasting protection against the disease.

The long-acting Cabotegravir provides eight weeks of continuous protection against HIV infection through a single intramuscular injection. It can provide an alternative to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The oral PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 99%, but it has to be taken either once a day or before and after sex for men. UNITAID, an arm of WHO, announced the groundbreaking development on Friday.

Developed by ViiV Healthcare, the pharma company of the United Kingdom, it is approved by the US health authority. The injection, whose active ingredient is cabotegravir, offers two months of protection against HIV.

“But we need urgent action to ensure people everywhere can benefit,” OWSA quoted UNITAID Executive Director Philippe Duneton as saying.

People at risk of HIV in Brazil and South Africa will be among the first to benefit from the injection through two large-scale operational projects funded by global health agency Unitaid.

Like other HIV treatments, the anti-retroviral medication works by stopping the virus from replicating in the body, effectively reducing the viral load.