Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental twice-yearly shot prevented 100% of HIV cases in women and adolescent girls in Africa, the first successful big trial of what’s hoped to become a powerful new drug regimen for fending off the virus.
Archive link I hope this medication works out and that the next step will be once a year. It would be great if it was able to mostly wipe out HIV. What stood out about this to me is that the study...
I hope this medication works out and that the next step will be once a year. It would be great if it was able to mostly wipe out HIV.
The trial involved about 5,300 women and female adolescents ages 16 to 25 in South Africa and Uganda, some of whom who received Gilead lenacapavir, and others who received older once-daily drugs from Gilead, including Truvada or Descovy.
What stood out about this to me is that the study was conducted only on women. And this isn't some gender specific birth control or something, it's a medication that will hopefully stop anyone from getting HIV in the future.
Gilead is conducting a second prevention trial of lenacapavir in men who have sex with men, as well as transgender women and transgender men. That trial, which also includes people in the US, is expected to yield results as soon as late 2024.
It looks like the groupings for these studies may have been based on which were the most likely to contract HIV.
I'm still amazed. We have such a long history of not doing studies on women at all because of it being too hard to control for things like cycles. I know things have been changing for a while, this still seems huge to me.
Archive link
I hope this medication works out and that the next step will be once a year. It would be great if it was able to mostly wipe out HIV.
What stood out about this to me is that the study was conducted only on women. And this isn't some gender specific birth control or something, it's a medication that will hopefully stop anyone from getting HIV in the future.
It looks like the groupings for these studies may have been based on which were the most likely to contract HIV.
I'm still amazed. We have such a long history of not doing studies on women at all because of it being too hard to control for things like cycles. I know things have been changing for a while, this still seems huge to me.