Anyone who hates taking a pill a day, or has trouble remembering doing so, take heed. Pharmaceutical company GSK has announced the development of a new anti-HIV drug for prep which only requires one injected dose every two months.
PinkNews reports that GSK claims to have stopped early testing of the drug after it proved 69% more effective at preventing the transmission of HIV than oral PrEP. At present, patients take either a one-a-day oral dose of the drugs Truvada or Descovy.
The pharmaceutical company tested the new drug, cabotegravir, on 4,600 people in North and South America, Africa and Asia. The trial included gay and bisexual men as well as transgender women. 50 people in the study contracted HIV. Of those, 12 had tried the new injection while 38 took the daily pill.
Related: UK’s health service to offer PrEP nationwide
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“These study results demonstrate that long-acting injectable cabotegravir dosed every two months can successfully reduce HIV acquisition in at-risk MSM and transgender women,” Kimberly Smith, head of research and development at HIV company ViiV Healthcare, said of the results. ViiV Healthcare is a subsidiary of GSK.
“We are thrilled with the results not only because of the high efficacy of cabotegravir but also because we have demonstrated high efficacy in a study that adequately represents some of the populations most disproportionately impacted by HIV — Black MSM in the US, young MSM globally and transgender women.”
Previous studies have found PrEP to be more than 99% effective at preventing HIV transmission–more effective than condoms–when taken correctly. Still, some patients report difficulty accessing or remembering to take a daily dose of Truvada or Descovy for HIV prevention.
Harley
I often wonder how they do testing on prep drugs. Is It give 100 guys the tested drug and 100 guys a placebo? Then send them out to get barebacked repeatedly by as many total strangers you can hook up with on Grindr?
Chrisk
I’m sure they test at regular intervals. They probably also have a control group that just takes prep the normal way. Theyll compare the amount in your system.
This is definitely going to be the way forward.
Catholicslutbox
They were all taking the injection or prep. It would be reckless of them to give them a placebo.
69% more effective than 100%? How is that even possible. Oh wait, contrary to what people on Grindr tell you, prep is not 99.9999999999999999% effective.
CarterATL
The control group in this experiment were people taking oral PrEP. That’s what the injectable was being compared against.
Bromancer7
@Catholicslutbox I was thinking the same thing. How can it be 67% more effective than something that is already 99%? How do they even calculate such a tiny number with any level of accuracy or confidence?
succubus
how about safe sex men?
anthony79
Prep is safe sex.
hotdogla
The Emperor of all Maladies is a great read on how clinical trials work, regarding placebo and life saving medications.
1898
a few months ago there was an article about a prep injection that was coming soon. not sure if this is the same medication or a different one. but i have the same question now that i had back then: with truvada soon to be available as a generic, will insurance companies actually pay for anyone to receive the injection? or will they insist that patients take the cheapest option?
injectables are typically very expensive. humira for example (an arthritis injection) costs around $5K a month and the insurance companies make you jump through all sorts of hoops before they’ll approve it. they expect you to prove that you tried half a dozen less-expensive options and that those options didn’t work for you (i.e. side effects or ineffective)
Bromancer7
There is no reason to believe it will be any different. Insurance companies will push you to take the cheapest option. This is nothing new.
STLguy
I was in this study and excited about it. Happy they were able to get approval to move beyond the study phase and make it an active and viable option. This will be a good option for those with kidney issues the pill made worse
CityguyUSA
My problem with PreP and the pharma industry. Pharma is one of the most crooked inudstries we have just look at all the lawsuits over opioids.
PreP users have always been told to use PreP with a condom so why take PreP? Just to give your money to big Pharma? I know they say you need the protection of a condom for other STD’s but then why take PreP?
Mrsir
I think prep is supposed to be for those times you slip up and go raw, and not as a jesus pill that guarantees safe barebacking, even though it might be used as such. And I think doctors are supposed to encourage you to be more cautious about your sexual health if you are going to be on prep, rather than imply you can be riskier.
Creamsicle
>”GSK claims to have stopped early testing of the drug after it proved 69% more effective at preventing the transmission of HIV than oral PrEP”
Nice.