# Annual jab for HIV protection passes first trial hurdle

## 4 days ago

- **Michelle Roberts**
  - Digital health editor, BBC News

An annual injection designed to guard against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has completed an important early safety trial, researchers report in 00405-2/fulltext) medical journal.

Lenacapavir stops the virus from replicating inside cells.

If future trials go well - now it has passed the first, Phase I, testing hurdle - it could become the longest-acting form of HIV prevention available.

Currently, , for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), to reduce their risk.

## Yearly dosing

For the trial, 40 people without HIV were injected into the muscle with lenacapavir, with no major side effects or safety concerns.

And after 56 weeks, the medicine was still detectable in their bodies.

Future trials must include more diverse participants, the researchers told the 2025 .

But they added: "Yearly dosing of lenacapavir has the potential to further decrease current barriers to PrEP by increasing the uptake of, persistence on, and, therefore, scalability of PrEP."

## 'Creating inequalities'

Richard Angell, from the Terrence Higgins Trust HIV charity, said: "PrEP as a daily pill has been a game-changer in our HIV response.

"The prospect of 'safe' annual injectable PrEP is as exciting as it is transformational.

"It's great to see these early results that suggest injectable PrEP might be effective for up to 12 months.

"We need to get ready for its rollout now and fund sexual-health clinics to do so."

Access to PrEP had been variable, Mr Angell said, creating inequalities.

"The oral pill is still not available in prisons, online or in community pharmacy," he said.

"The Scottish Medicines Consortium has finally approved two-monthly PrEP injections for use in Scotland - but we are waiting for NICE  approval for use in England."

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