Science magazine: HIV protection is the breakthrough of the year
Published: Friday, Dec 13th 2024, 15:10
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The development of the drug Lenacapavir, which prevents HIV infection, is the most important research breakthrough of the year for the renowned journal "Science". This is the next, but by no means final, step in the fight against AIDS, according to the "Breakthrough of the Year" award.
According to data from the UN's Unaids program, around 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa. A six-monthly injection with the drug lenacapavir provides effective protection against infection with the virus, as study data has shown. Previously used HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs such as Truvada must be taken daily in tablet form.
The development of the drug represents a similar advance in HIV prevention as previous breakthroughs with antiretroviral drugs, explains "Science" editor-in-chief Holden Thorp. "Lenacapavir's six-month duration of action makes a big difference and offers a new and better way to make prophylaxis available to more people around the world."
Valuable improvement
Having an injection twice a year is much more convenient than having to remember to take a tablet every day, experts emphasize. What's more, in some countries that are heavily affected by HIV, there is a risk of being labeled as HIV-positive in the community if you take pills every day. An injection administered only twice a year is very helpful here.
The manufacturer Gilead wants to apply for approval as HIV protection in numerous countries. Targeted efforts are also being made to provide the drug in poorer countries. The drug is to be offered prophylactically to people with a high risk of HIV infection.
Lenacapavir has now been approved under the name Sunlenca in the EU, Canada, the USA and Switzerland for the treatment of adults infected with HIV. However, Gilead has not yet launched the drug on the market in several countries.
Third award for research on the topic
It has been known since the early 1980s that the HI virus causes the immunodeficiency disease AIDS. As a result, antiretroviral drugs were developed to reduce HIV levels to such an extent that transmission is stopped.
This is the third time that "Science" has recognized an AIDS intervention as a breakthrough. In 1996, the development of protease inhibitors as an effective weapon against HIV marked a turning point. "In most patients, this class of antiretroviral drugs, in combination with other antiviral agents, was able to dramatically reduce HIV levels in the blood," according to "Science".
In 2011, the groundbreaking clinical study "HPTN 052" showed that treatment with a cocktail of these active substances also significantly reduces the risk of sexual transmission of the virus to other people.
©Keystone/SDA
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